Chevron Selects Engineer for Polypropylene Debottleneck in Texas

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). Chevron Phillips Chemical Company (CPChem) (The Woodlands, Texas) is moving forward with plans to debottleneck its existing polypropylene production unit located at their Houston Chemical Complex in Pasadena, Texas (Plant 1507337). The estimated $30 million project was first reported by Industrialinfo.com in March of 2003 (PEC 01007847), as part of the North American Industrial Project Database.

Jacobs Engineering Group Incorporated (NYSE: JEC) (Pasadena, California) from their Houston, Texas office will provide E+P+C/M services for the debottleneck. Detailed design and cost estimating are currently underway with capital approval expected this spring. Once funded, CPChem with Jacobs will begin selection of long-lead equipment and anticipate construction to begin in the field early next year.

"Over the last twelve months we have seen a dramatic improvement in the polypropylene market with new capacity in the Northeast coming online last year and several capacity additions expected in 2005," commented Trey Hamblet, Chemicals Group Manager with Industrialinfo.com. Another major producer planning to increase capacity is Basell, see archived IIR Industry Alert: Basell Hires Engineer for Polypropylene Conversions in Louisiana. "This wave of positive growth is not limited to the United States, international producers are also planning major expansions that could equal several billion in capital expenditures in the next several years," Mr. Hamblet added. See related IIR Industry Alert: Polypropylene Producers Plan New Capacity for International and Domestic Markets.