Commissioning Underway for Sasol's Chemical Project in Louisiana

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Sasol Limited (NYSE:SSL) (Johannesburg, South Africa) announced last week commissioning was underway at its Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP) in Louisiana. The LCCP includes a 1.5 million metric-ton-per-year ethylene unit addition, which is expected to reach completion in the fourth quarter this year. Industrial Info is tracking about $10 billion in U.S. Gulf Coast ethylene-related projects that are expected to be finished in the second half of this year, including three projects in Louisiana and three in Texas.

"Beginning in late July, activities will involve testing of safety devices, such as flares, as well as process, utility, electrical and instrumentation systems," Sasol said in a July 19 press release. As of June 30, the project had reached 88% completion and a cumulative capital spend of $9.8 billion.

WorleyParsons (North Sydney, Australia) is serving as the project management consultant for the LCCP. A joint venture by TechnipFMC (London, England) and Fluor Corporation (NYSE:FLR) (Irving, Texas) is providing engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) management services.

The massive investment by Sasol will take advantage of relatively cheap natural gas feedstock in the U.S. The company said last week it expected to report a drop in profits for its fiscal year ended June 30, due in part to planned and unplanned production interruptions in South Africa.

In addition to the ethylene unit, construction of the LCCP's linear low-density polyethylene unit is expected to reach completion this year.

Other LCCP units in development include a low-density polyethylene (LDPE) unit and an ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol unit, among others. For more information on the ethylene unit, see Industrial Info's project report.

Other ethylene-related project completions in Louisiana include Shintech Louisiana Limited Liability Company's 500,000-metric-ton-per-year unit in Plaquemine, and Indorama Ventures' (Bangkok, Thailand) 440,000-metric-ton-per-year Lake Charles ethylene plant restart in Sulphur. For more information, see Industrial Info's reports on the Shintech project and the Indorama project.

In Texas, final commissioning is wrapping up on Exxon Mobil Corporation's (NYSE:XOM) (ExxonMobil) (Irving, Texas) 1.5 million-metric-ton-per-year ethylene unit in Baytown, Texas. Part of ExxonMobil's "Growing the Gulf" initiative, construction of the ethane cracker began in 2014. The unit is expected to begin production this summer. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report and March 19, 2018, article - ExxonMobil Plans to Grow Chemical Earnings on Plant Buildouts.

Other ethylene projects nearing completion in Texas are Formosa Plastics Corporation USA's (Livingston, New Jersey) Olefins 3 Ethylene Unit Expansion and Olefins 1 Furnace Addition, both in Point Comfort. The ethylene unit expansion will add 2.65 billion pounds per year of ethylene capacity at the Point Comfort facility, while the furnace addition is expected to increase the capacity of the 1.5 billion-pound-per-year Ethylene Unit 1 by 10-15%. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on the Olefins 3 Ethylene Unit Expansion and the Olefins 1 Furnace Addition.

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