East Texas Getting New $8.5 Billion Ethane Cracker Plastics Facility

These ethylene production operations consume fracked ethane and also generate huge tonnages of carbon dioxide (GHG)

From an Article by Pearl Bantillo, ICIS News, March 10, 2023

SINGAPORE (ICIS)– Chevron Phillips Chemical Co (CP Chem) and QatarEnergy have started building their joint $8.5bn integrated cracker complex called Golden Triangle Polymers Plant in the US. A groundbreaking ceremony was held for the project located in Orange County, Texas, QatarEnergy said in a statement on 8 March.

“We are investing $8.5 billion to build this world-scale facility, which is QatarEnergy’s second largest investment in the US after the more than $11 billion investment in the Golden Pass LNG [liquefied natural gas] production and export facility, which is currently under construction about 35 miles from here in Sabine Pass, Texas,” said Ahmad Saeed Al-Amoodi, executive vice president for surface development & sustainability at QatarEnergy.

The project includes an ethane cracker with a 2.08m tonne/year ethylene capacity, with two downstream high density polyethylene (HDPE) units with a combined capacity of 2m tonnes/year, it said.

Scheduled for start-up in 2026, the project will be owned by Golden Triangle Polymers Company LLC, a 51:49 joint venture between CP Chem and QatarEnergy. The project and the joint venture firm were named after Texas’s Golden Triangle region that encompasses the community of Orange. “This plant will also be, by far, the most significant economic investment in the Orange community in decades, creating jobs and supporting economic growth,” Al-Amoodi added.

Based on information available on CP Chem’s website, the Golden Triangle Polymer Plant is expected to create more than 500 full-time jobs and about 4,500 construction jobs and generate an estimated $50bn for the community in residual economic impacts over 20 years. QatarEnergy and CP Chem made a final investment decision on the project on 16 November 2022, with plans to export the majority of its HDPE output to key markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

ALSO: RAS LAFFAN PROJECT IN QATAR

The two companies have a similar project worth $6bn in the works in Ras Laffan, Qatar, which is also expected to begin production in 2026. The Ras Laffan petrochemicals complex, Qatar’s biggest investment in the sector to date, will consist of an ethane cracker with a capacity of 2.1m tonnes/year of ethylene, and two HDPE trains with a combined 1.7m tonnes/year of capacity. Most HDPE output is targeted for exports.

QatarEnergy will own 70% of the joint venture firm Ras Laffan Petrochemicals, which will implement the project, with CP Chem holding the remaining 30%.

The project will double QatarEnergy’s ethylene production capacity, and increase its local polymer production to more than 4m tonnes/year from the current 2.6m tonnes/year.