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Economist Briefs WVU-P on Odebrecht Ethane Cracker

In February, the former director of West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research and professor emeritus at WVU, Tom Witt, released a study about the coming economic miracle that will be the Odebrecht ethane cracker plant in Parkersburg, WV (see Economist Releases Report on WV Cracker Plant’s Economic Impact). Witt’s previous employer, WVU, also hired him to brief them about this coming economic miracle. They specifically want to be sure their educational programs will help prepare the local workforce. Witt briefed the Parkersburg Board of Governors earlier this month. What did he tell them?…
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Odebrect Cracker Aims to Attract Chemical/Plastics Manufacturing

David Peebles, Odebrecht’s vice president of business development and the guy working to make the $4 billion ethane cracker and petrochemical plant project in Parkersburg, WV a reality, gave some great insights into just how vast and complex a process building that plant is. Speaking yesterday at the Penn State Natural Gas Utilization Conference in Southpointe, PA, Peebles said…
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Odebrecht WV Cracker Plant Decision “By End of 2015”

An update on the progress being made by Odebrecht and their planned ethane cracker plant and petrochemical manufacturing facility planned for Parkersburg (Wood County), WV. At the recent Global Plastics Summit in Chicago, Braskem (sister company to Odebrecht) vice president of business development, Renato Monteiro, said a final decision on building the proposed cracker plant will be made “by the end of 2015.” Here’s a few other tidbits about the cracker plant that came from Monteiro at the conference, including when the first PE (polyethylene) might be manufactured at the plant…
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Odebrect Signs Deal for Polyethylene Tech for WV Cracker Plant

Odebrecht continues to advance the ball toward building a world-class ethane cracker plant near Parkersburg, WV. MDN editor Jim Willis had the pleasure of meeting and talking with David Peebles, Odebrecht VP of business development and the guy working to make this project happen, at this year’s Shale Insight conference in Pittsburgh. Peebles said Odebrecht is still in the evaluation stage but that things are looking positive so far. Here’s another positive sign: INEOS Technologies, which licenses the technologies used in large petrochemical plants, announced they have just signed an agreement with Odebrect to provide polyethylene tech for the WV cracker plant…
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A Present for Attendees of Shale Gas Insight – Peebles Column

Just in time for the attendees of Shale Insight in Pittsburgh to read, a guest commentary was published in today’s edition of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette by David Peebles, the man helping to build a $3 billion ethane cracker plant in Parkersburg, WV. David waxes eloquent on shale, ethane and energy security…
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Odebrecht Moves Forward with WV Cracker Plant Plans

It's a done dealThe previously announced ethane cracker plant that is slated to be built near Parkersburg, WV is coming along very nicely, according to Odebrecht spokesman David Peebles. A talk at the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Meeting and Business Summit at The Greenbrier last week, along with conversations with the Parkersburg News and Sentinel, provided some key details about just where the project sits. Once again MDN notices how quickly (and convincingly) the Odebrecht cracker project is progressing after being announced just last fall, as opposed to the ponderous path being taken by Shell with their planned cracker plant, announced 2 1/2 years ago. Neither plant is a done deal, yet. But in light of Odebrecht’s full-speed-ahead attitude and news from last week, it sure seems like the WV cracker is a lot closer to being a done deal than the Shell cracker…
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Cracker Race Continues: Odebrecht Files Remediation Application

The race continues to see who will build the first multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica region. Yesterday MDN brought you the news that Shell had filed, back in May, a detailed air pollution application with the PA Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) for their proposed cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (see Details for Shell Ethane Cracker Revealed in Air Pollution Application). Although arriving on the scene several years after Shell’s project, Odebrecht announced last November they want to build a cracker plant near Parkersburg, WV (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Odebrecht has now filed a similar document–a Voluntary Remediation Program application–with the WV Dept. of Environmental Protection (WVDEP)…
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Odebrecht Cracker Plant Will be Magnet for Downstream Development

David Peebles, VP of business development for Odebrecht, presented a plan for downstream development related to his company’s proposed ethane cracker plant in Parkersburg, WV at the Department of Energy Quadrennial Energy Review Public Meeting held at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh on July 21st. The presentation shows how the proposed Odebrecht $2B+ ethane cracker plant is just the beginning of “clusters” of downstream manufacturing facilities that will be built. The cracker plant will act as a magnet for other businesses. Peebles presented the plan to DOE Sec. Ernest Moniz. And, we happen to have a copy!…
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More Evidence the Odebrect WV Ethane Cracker Will Happen

MDN continues to be encouraged by what we see happening with Odebrecht and their plans to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant and petrochemical complex near Parkersburg, WV, the state’s third largest city (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). As we previously commented, the WV ethane cracker just feels like it’s going to happen (see Odebrecht’s WV Ethane Cracker has The Big Mo–Momentum). The evidence that it will happen continued this week…
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WV Commerce Sec Burdette Praises Odebrecht/Antero, Warns Drillers

Aside from WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin, no one in West Virginia has been more dedicated, more focused and more committed to finding an ethane cracker plant for the state than WV Commerce Secretary Keith Burdette. MDN has stories going back years that mention Burdette and his quest for a cracker (just one example: WV’s Burdette Still in Hunt for Ethane Cracker Plant). We think it’s a fair statement to say without Burdette, the Odebrecht cracker plant project would not have happened. Our hat is off to Keith and the marvelous work he’s done for the state.

Yesterday Keith delivered a rousing speech at the Marcellus to Manufacturing Ethane Development Conference at the Charleston Civic Center. We have a transcript of his speech below. In it, Keith acknowledges the contributions of Odebrecht’s David Peebles in making this project happen. He also praises Antero Resources for their bold and brave commitment to providing half of the ethane for the new cracker plant. Finally, Keith sounds a word of warning to other drillers that are signing agreements to ship ethane out of the northeast region. He believes they may want to reconsider. The northeast has enough ethane for “a dozen crackers” if so much of it wasn’t heading to the Gulf Coast or Canada via pipeline…
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Antero to Provide 50% Ethane Needed at Parkersburg Cracker Plant

halfway thereThe ethane cracker plant planned for Parkersburg (Wood County), WV, to be built by Odebrecht and operated by Odebrecht subsidiary Braskem America, took another giant step closer to reality yesterday. Powerhouse Marcellus/Utica driller Antero Resources announced they will provide 30,000 barrels per day of ethane for the proposed new plant when/if it gets built. That’s half of what the plant needs to operate. Antero Resources CEO Paul Rady was joined by Odebrecht VP of business development David Peebles on stage at the Marcellus to Manufacturing Ethane Development Conference at the Charleston Civic Center for the big announcement yesterday. WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin took to the stage to crow about the deal too (he’s earned the right).

It was just Monday of last week that MDN observed that the Odebrect cracker plant just “feels” like it’s going to happen (see Odebrecht’s WV Ethane Cracker has The Big Mo–Momentum). Yesterday’s Antero announcement is more evidence of that. Below is the official Antero announcement about their ethane contribution to the proposed new cracker, along with a report of who said what about the deal at yesterday’s Charleston conference…
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Odebrecht’s WV Ethane Cracker has The Big Mo–Momentum

the big moThe Shell ethane cracker plant announced for Beaver County, PA has been a roller coaster ride about whether or not it will ever get built over the past two years since it was announced. Just last week the pendulum swung again and the mood turned decidedly gloomy (see Shell’s Shale Pessimism Signals Worry for Some re PA Cracker). In stark contrast to the Shell cracker, the cracker announced late last year by Odebrecht–to be built in Parkersburg, WV–seems to have an air of optimism and inevitability (see WV Ethane Cracker – Cautious Optimism in the Mountain State). Odebrecht officials are careful to say it’s not a 100% done deal yet and that we are “very early” in the process of making this multi-billion dollar project a reality. But what MDN notices about the Odebrecht cracker is forward momentum. Rapid progress. Enthusiasm. It just “feels” like the Odebrecht project is going to happen.

Here is an update on the progress made to date on Odebrecht’s planned ethane cracker complex in Parkersburg, and what will happen next…
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WV Ethane Cracker – Cautious Optimism in the Mountain State

The editors at the Charleston Gazette have penned an editorial about their “cautious hope” that the ethane cracker plant announced by Odebrecht for Parkersburg, WV will become a reality. As they note, coal is descending in the state, and natural gas is ascending. If the cracker plant is built–complete with environmental safeguards–it will be a huge economic bonanza for the state. Although the editors are a tad skeptical about the “drill drill drill” attitude from Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and his administration (a Democrat, which is noteworthy), they’re willing to suspend the usual knee-jerk reaction against such projects and allow hope to bloom on the editorial page. A good sign!

From the Gazette:
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Economist Releases Report on WV Cracker Plant’s Economic Impact

West Virginia’s coming ethane cracker plant continues to generate positive economic news. Yesterday the former director of West Virginia University’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research and professor emeritus at WVU, Tom Witt, released a study he conducted on behalf of Braskem America (i.e. Odebrecht, the company building the cracker). The new study details specifics for how many jobs and how much money the proposed cracker and associated petrochemical plants will generate. And it’s truly astonishing.

Here’s an overview of the economic miracle about to hit WV (and beyond)…
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Houston Investment Firm a True Believer in WV Cracker Plant

A huge vote of confidence by an investment firm that the ethane cracker plant recently announced by Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and planned for Parkersburg, WV will actually be built (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). Siltstone Capital, an investment and advisory firm with corporate offices in New York and Houston, bought the old Blue Cross and Blue Shield building in downtown Parkersburg–vacant since 2009–to set up offices for the company and to lease out space they don’t use themselves.

Siltstone invests in companies in the energy sector: exploration and production, oil services, and midstream. If they weren’t totally convinced that the Odebrecht cracker plant would be built, you can be sure Siltstone would not have spent $475,000 on a vacant building in Parkersburg, WV (population 31,492)…
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WV Cracker Plant has Already Purchased Land for Future Site

In November, WV Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced he finally had him a cracker (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). By Dec. 31, Odebrecht, the company that will build the ethane cracker, had purchased the future site for their proposed plant in Wood County, WV through a holding company–for $10.9 million. A chemical plant currently located on the site employing 130 people will close in 2015. But have no fear–when the cracker plant is built, it will (for a time) employ 10,000 people to build it. It’s a massive undertaking that will ultimately lead to an estimated $7 billion economic injection just for the state of West Virginia. Talk about an economic revolution!

Compare WV’s proposed cracker to the Pennsylvania proposed cracker plant. Shell announced their intention to build a PA cracker plant in June 2011. How long did it take Shell to purchase the property on which they plan to build their cracker plant? They still haven’t purchased it. Let’s see: under 2 months to purchase the property for the WV cracker, still no purchase after 2 1/2 years for the PA cracker. Which one do you think is serious about building, and which one will get built first?…
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