PTTG Cracker Build Decision Again Postponed (Indefinitely) in Thailand

Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR) react to the construction delay of the Belmont County cracker plant

From a Report by Karen Compton, WTRF News 7, Wheeling, WV, November 14, 2020

BELMONT COUNTY, OHIO — Vincent DeGeorge, PhD and Ella Jennings of the Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR) released a statement reacting to the delay of the construction of the Belmont County (Ohio) cracker plant.

The PTTGC spokesman, Dan Williamson told News 7 that the time frame of a decision in the spring/first quarter is not realistic at this time.

The reason for the delay is due to COVID-19 cases spiking worldwide and travel plans have caused difficulty.

CORR stated that the proposed PTTG plastics cracker plant at Dilles Bottom is now indefinitely delayed after scrapping its most recent Final Investment Decision(FID) deadline again this week.

CORR summarized their position on the plant:

“A business that is utterly dependent on futureless fossil fuel and whose “valuable” end product is single-use plastic trash the world is already drowning in is not feasible. This economy is not sustainable.

The Ohio Valley deserves a robust, prosperous, and sustainable economy in which we, our families and communities can make a living without the unending pitfalls and environmental wreckage of boom and bust industries.

We deserve straight answers and not rosey lies about the factors that affect our lives – our job and real estate prospects, safe and healthy air and water, and public servants who work for us. We deserve better than this unfeasible PTTG cracker plant charade.”

—— From Vincent DeGeorge, PhD and Ella Jennings. Concerned Ohio River Residents (CORR)

CORR Webinar Illustrates Dangers of Fracking-Related Air Pollution

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See also: PTTG scraps timetable for decision on Belmont County cracker plant, Jennifer Compton-Strough, Steubenville Herald Star, November 17, 2020

DILLES BOTTOM — PTT Global Chemical America has scrapped its timetable for making a final investment decision on a proposed ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, Ohio.

PTTGCA spokesman Dan Williamson said Friday that plans to announce a decision in the first quarter of 2021 are no longer realistic. He said the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on the global economy are primarily to blame for the delay.

Rather than establishing another goal for the timing of such an announcement, Williamson said Thailand-based PTT is “not setting a time table right now.” In an interview with the Bangkok Post, PTT CEO Auttapol Rerkpiboon reportedly said a new feasibility study of the project will be conducted. He added that he would “expect it will be finished in the middle of next year at the soonest.”