PA Finally Joins the Cracker Plant Sweepstakes

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It seems that Pennsylvania has finally woken up to the fact that Shell is about to decide where they will invest some $2 billion and generate thousands of new jobs by building an ethane cracker plant. One of three bills signed into law by PA Gov. Tom Corbett on Monday was a bill that,

…could deliver long-term tax breaks to a buyer of three Philadelphia-area oil refineries that are shutting down and a massive petrochemical refinery that may be built in southwestern Pennsylvania.

The latter bill is a centerpiece of Pennsylvania’s competitive pitch in a race against Ohio and West Virginia to persuade a subsidiary of Netherlands-based oil and gas giant Royal Dutch Shell PLC to build a petrochemical refinery in the Pittsburgh area, potentially meaning thousands of new jobs and millions of tax dollars for the state.*

That’s the sum total of what MDN can find out about the measure signed by Gov. Corbett. When we know more, we’ll update you with the details of the deal PA is offering to Shell.

*York (PA) Daily Record/AP (Feb 14, 2012) – Corbett signs 3 key energy-sector bills

3 Comments

  1. Really? I beg to differ. I love PA, don’t get me wrong. And am a fan of the drilling that happens there. But Sen. Bob Casey is trying to regulate fracking out of existence, and cities like Pittsburgh have banned fracking. PA, while being more favorable in some respects to drilling (like lower taxes), sends mixed signals in other ways. I’m not at all sure PA will be the winner of the new plant.

  2. Jim. I am new to commenting on gas drilling. I just hope we do not reglulate it out of existance like Nuclear Power, and do not let the vocal minority control. Sure there will be accicents, no matter how safe it is made to be. Government and industry need to work together on this one.  Just think if the automobile was just invented today, what chance do you think it would ever get approved? Also – I wonder with the new law Bob Casey signed if Pittsburgh can now ban fracking or drilling? If PA get the new cracker plant, that’s great, but just as long as a plant is built somewhere is even better.