INEOS Maintains Course for Spending Planned in North America

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--INEOS Group (Lyndhurst, United Kingdom) began building businesses and acquiring companies producing commodities of interest ten years ago and today operates nearly 20 manufacturing sites across North America. INEOS began as a company formed to acquire the former BP plc (NYSE:BP) (London) site in Antwerp, Germany, in 1998 and over the following several years acquired numerous businesses and plants from BP, ICI, Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW) (Midland, Michigan) and several others. INEOS' first major project here in the States was the construction of a new phenol plant in Alabama. Today INEOS is a global chemical company employing more than 15,000 people worldwide.

In spite of the global economic slowdown, more than $238 million in capital and maintenance project activity planned by INEOS has been identified by Industrial Info as part of its North American Project Database. This spending is made up of projects with planned construction starts beginning as soon as May of this year to October of 2010. The largest among these plans at the moment is the potential of an expansion for the alpha olefins plant in Joffre, Alberta. Plans for expanding this estimated 250,000-ton-per-year plant are in the very early planning phases, and decisions on the project's fate are expected this summer. INEOS, like many of peers in the industry, is continuously evaluating ways to reduce energy costs and increase energy efficiencies. INEOS is considering the addition of a new combustion turbine generator and related heat-recovery steam generator at its La Porte, Texas, site that would eventually replace older and less efficient steam generation equipment currently in use at the site.

In the next couple of months INEOS is expecting to complete construction of two major projects already under way at two different Texas sites. Construction began last summer for the addition of a new acrylonitrile reactor at the Port Lavaca, Texas, plant. SNC-Lavalin GDS Incorporated (Houston, Texas) provided engineering and procurement for the project, while Bay Limited (Corpus Christi, Texas) served as the general contractor. Also beginning last summer, INEOS began a project to make feedstock and process modifications for its polyethylene plant in La Porte, Texas, with support from alliance contractor S&B Engineers and Constructors Limited (Houston). Each of these projects is expected to be complete this spring, even as the economy shows no immediate signs of returning health. Based on projects identified by Industrial Info, less than $60 million in total spending has been cancelled or indefinitely put on hold over the past year by INEOS.

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