ExxonMobil-SABIC Chemical Project Is One of Several Planned to Start Construction This Year in Texas, Louisiana

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The announcement by Exxon Mobil Corporation (ExxonMobil) (NYSE:XOM) (Irving, Texas) and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) on Thursday that construction will proceed on a big petrochemical facility near Corpus Christi, Texas, portends the beginning of big things this year for the U.S. Chemical Processing Industry. In Texas and Louisiana, Industrial Info is tracking more than $24 billion worth of planned chemical project construction starts in second-half 2019.

ExxonMobil and SABIC said they will proceed with the construction of a joint-venture chemical facility and 1.8 million-metric-ton-per-year ethane steam cracker in San Patricio County, Texas. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) granted air permits for the project on Tuesday. Construction will begin in the third quarter of 2019, and operational startup is anticipated by 2022. Industrial Info is tracking four projects that comprise the estimated $10 billion facility. Click here for the list.

Some residents in the communities near the plant site have registered opposition to the project, citing environmental concerns. During the permitting hearing, TCEQ Chairman Jon Niermann urged the project developers and concerned community members to be "good neighbors," according to the Houston Chronicle. Opponents of the project were expected to request a rehearing on the decision, according to the newspaper.

In addition to what its developers says will be the world's largest steam cracker, the ExxonMobil-SABIC 50:50 joint venture, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, also includes two polyethylene units and a monoethylene glycol unit. Primary engineering, procurement and construction will be handled by John Wood Group plc (Aberdeen, Scotland), McDermott International Incorporated (NYSE:MDR) (Houston, Texas), Turner Industries Group (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Chiyoda Corporation (Yokohama, Japan), Kiewit Corporation (Omaha, Nebraska), Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (Tokyo, Japan) and Zachry Industrial Services Group (San Antonio, Texas).

ExxonMobil said the project is part of its "Growing the Gulf" initiative, which includes investments of more than $20 billion to build and expand chemical, refining, lubricant and liquefied natural gas projects in the region. Many of the plants will depend on feedstock from the Permian Basin, where ExxonMobil says it expects to produce more than 1 million oil-equivalent barrels per day by 2024.

In May, ExxonMobil said it will proceed with a $2 billion expansion of its Baytown chemical plant in Texas, including a 400,000-ton-per-year Vistamaxx performance polymer unit and a 350,000-ton-per-year linear alpha olefins unit, both of which would kick off construction in 2020. See Industrial Info's project reports on the Vistamaxx unit and the linear alpha olefins unit. For additional information, see May 7, 2019, article - Baytown, Texas, Brims with Nearly $5 Billion in Project Activity.

Industrial Info is tracking nearly $26 billion worth of U.S. chemical capital project activity that is planned to kick off construction in the second half of 2019, but $24.5 billion of that amount belongs to projects planned for Louisiana and Texas.

ExxonMobil plans to kick off construction in late 2019 on a new polypropylene production unit in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, that will expand production capacity by up to 450,000 tons per year. Completion is planned for mid-2021. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

The most substantial chemical project construction kickoff planned for second-half 2019 is for Phase 1 of Formosa Plastics Group's (Taipei, Taiwan) Saint James Parish Petrochemical Complex. The project would include a 2.6 billion-pound-per-year ethylene unit and downstream derivatives units. It is part of the company's larger Sunshine Project, which has an estimated total investment value of $9.4 billion. Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas) is providing engineering. The first phase of construction could be complete in early 2023. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

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