Honeywell's Role in $20 Billion-Plus of Texas Projects Includes Big-Ticket Completions in 2019

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Honeywell International (NYSE:HON) (Morris Plains, New Jersey), which specializes in engineering and automation, is cautiously optimistic about 2019. In addition to major liquefied natural gas (LNG) and chemical plant completions along the U.S. Gulf Coast, it is slated to finish construction on a slew of natural gas-processing plants in and near the Permian Basin. Industrial Info is tracking more than $40 billion in active projects involving Honeywell and its subsidiaries, more than half of which is attributed to projects in Texas.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing Honeywell's active U.S. projects, by project type.

Two of the highest-profile projects involving Honeywell are set to finish construction later this year: ConocoPhillips' (NYSE:COP) (Houston, Texas) $5.5 billion first train at the Freeport LNG Production Complex in Quintana, Texas, and Enterprise Products Partners LP's (NYSE:EPD) (Houston) $1 billion addition of an iso-butane dehydrogenation unit at its fractionator in Mont Belvieu, Texas. Both projects are part of the massive buildout along the Texas and Louisiana Gulf Coast, spurred by historically low prices for natural gas feedstock.

The Freeport project, which would produce 5 million tons per year of LNG using natural gas feedstock from the Eagle Ford Shale, is set to see another key element completed before the end of 2019: a $200 million natural gas pretreatment plant, which would process 2.2 billion cubic feet per day. ConocoPhillips expects to wrap up two more phases by mid-2020: the $5.5 billion Train 2 and $4.5 billion Train 3, each of which is designed for the same capacity and feedstock as Train 1. Honeywell's Automation and Control Systems subsidiary is at work on instrumentation, controls and safety for each phase. For more information, see Industrial Info's project reports on Train 1, the pretreatment plant, Train 2 and Train 3.

Honeywell's UOP Russell LLC subsidiary is serving as technology provider on Enterprise's Mont Belvieu project, which would use UOP's C4 Oleflex Technology to produce 425,000 metric tons per year of isobutylene; it also will add a UOP Continuous Catalyst Regeneration Unit. For more information, see Industrial Info's project report.

UOP also is at work on several natural gas-processing plants across Texas. "The U.S. natural gas market, which is primarily served by our UOP Russell business, is expected to improve in 2019," said Greg Lewis, Honeywell's chief financial officer, in a recent quarterly earnings-related conference call. "UOP is expected to deliver a strong year, driven by its strong backlog, licensing and services growth, and improved market demand in gas processing after a tough 2018."

Five Texas-based natural gas-processing units featuring UOP's technology, each valued at $100 million or more, are set to finish construction at various times this year. Each is designed to process 200 million standard cubic feet per day of natural gas from the Permian Basin:

• Vaquero Midstream's (The Woodlands, Texas) $150 million third train at the Caymus plant in Coyanosa; see project report
• Brazos Midstream's (Fort Worth, Texas) $150 million third train at the Comanche plant in Pecos; see project report
• West Texas Gas Incorporated's (Midland, Texas) $120 million St. Lawrence plant in Big Lake; see project report
• Cogent Midstream's (Dallas, Texas) $120 million second train at the Big Lake plant in Big Lake; see project report
• Navitas Midstream Partners' (The Woodlands) $100 million plant in Midland; see project report

While low natural gas prices spurred many of the projects involving Honeywell, Lewis conceded in the conference call that oil prices were much less predictable: "In the oil and gas petrochemical market, [company sales] growth should remain steady at about 4%... However, given the volatility in oil prices in the second half of 2018, investments in global mega projects slowed, and we see the oil-price volatility potentially putting some pressure on upstream spending plans in 2019. Nevertheless, we anticipate similar market dynamics overall for 2019, and the basis for our plan is that oil prices remain in the low- to mid-60s[-dollar range] per barrel."

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/.