Pembina Makes Positive Final Investment Decision for Propane Dehydrogenation and Polypropylene Complex

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Pembina Pipeline Corporation (NYSE:PBA) (Calgary, Alberta) has made a positive final investment decision for the construction of a grassroot propane dehydrogenation (PDH) and polypropylene (PP) production facility in Alberta. The project will be constructed through Pembina's joint venture with Kuwait's Petrochemicals Industries Company, Canada Kuwait Petrochemical Corporation.

The plant will use approximately 23,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of propane, some of which will come from Pembina's adjacent Redwater fractionation complex, to produce 550,000 metric tons per year of polypropylene. Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE:JEC) (Dallas, Texas) is performing design engineering work on the project, which could begin construction later this year, for completion in 2023. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

In a press release regarding the project, Pembina Chief Executive Officer Mick Dilger said, "Sanctioning of the PDH/PP facility is the largest step taken to date by Pembina in executing its strategy to secure global market prices for customers' hydrocarbons produced in western Canada and provides another exciting platform for future growth."

An increase of PDH facilities in North America may be on the horizon. At Industrial Info's recent Market Outlook in Houston, Texas, Trey Hamblet, Industrial Info's vice president of research for the Chemical Processing Industry, said, "I think we will get another one or two PDH units ... simply because we keep building these really light-feedstock ethylene crackers, and we are not getting any propylene yields out of them. We need that for the polypropylene market, and for that reason I consider that pretty favorable."

Also in Alberta, Inter Pipeline Limited (Calgary) is underway with construction on a grassroot PDH plant as part of its Heartland Petrochemical Complex. The facility will use 22,000 BBL/d of propane to produce 1.1 billion pounds per year of propylene. Construction began early last year and is expected to be complete by the end of 2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

In Mont Belvieu, Texas, Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE:EPD) (Houston) is in the planning stage for a second PDH unit. The unit would use 35,000 of propane to produce 1.65 billion pounds per year of propylene. The unit would double Enterprise's current propylene production capacity at the facility. Construction could begin this year and wrap up in 2023. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

LyondellBasell Industries NV (NYSE:LYB) (Houston) has begun preliminary design and feasibility studies for a PDH unit in the U.S. Gulf Coast region. In the company's recent fourth-quarter 2018 earnings conference call, LyondellBasell Chief Executive Officer Bob Patel said construction of a PDH/PP production facility was still being evaluated. Patel said, "With the PP plant, we are still considering it, and certainly the buy-versus-build scenario on propylene is one that we are contemplating today." For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the PDH and polypropylene plants.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.