Antis Hound PA DEP for More Notifications & Fines re Shell Cracker
Two days ago, MDN brought you the news confirming that Shell is looking to sell all or part of its Beaver County, PA, ethane cracker plant operation (see Shell Looks to Sell All or Part of Monaca, PA Ethane Cracker Plant). We remain somewhat incredulous that it wants to sell an asset like the cracker plant. The question is, why? We said this: “We still think Shell is just plain tired of dealing with all of the CRAP from the environmental left and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, which declares a new emergency or violation at the plant about every other day.” Right on cue, a group of radicals is hammering the DEP, claiming the cracker plant is polluting everything in sight and that the DEP is not being hard enough on Shell. Read More “Antis Hound PA DEP for More Notifications & Fines re Shell Cracker”
Back in March, the Wall Street Journal reported that Shell is “exploring a potential sale of its chemicals assets in Europe and the U.S.,” which includes the recently completed Monaca (Beaver County, PA) ethane cracker complex (see 
MDN recently brought you the news that the Trump administration was blocking cargoes of ethane to China (see 
MDN recently brought you the news that the Trump U.S. Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) was blocking at least three (possibly more) cargoes of ethane by rejecting permits to export to Enterprise Products Partners (see 
This is your friendly (somewhat snarky) semi-regular reminder from MDN that the PTT ethane cracker project in Ohio is dead (see 
In May 2023, two radicalized Big Green groups—the Environmental Integrity Project (based in D.C.) and the Clean Air Council (based in Philadelphia)—filed a lawsuit against the Shell Polymers Monaca Plant (ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA), claiming the plant has repeatedly violated federal air pollution limits (see 
U.S. ethane production increased steadily over the last decade and reached a record of 3.0 million barrels per day (b/d) in May 2024. Ethane production in the first half of 2024 (1H24) averaged a record 2.8 million b/d, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) Petroleum Supply Monthly. Ethane production in the Marcellus/Utica region (called the Appalachian No. 1 refining district), which straddles most of the Appalachian Basin production area in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, increased during 1H24, averaging 327,000 b/d, up from 292,000 b/d in 1H23. 
Last Friday, RBN Energy published a blog post declaring that the Shell ethane cracker in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, is now “firing on all cylinders.” The post retrospectively covers the project’s history, from construction through recent problems as the plant was commissioned to the present day. We learned something interesting: Shell, a petrochemical giant and owner of other cracker plants producing various products, had exited the plastic pellets business years ago. The Monaca cracker is Shell reentering that market. 
The mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, has a new person in charge: Emma Lewis, senior vice president of U.S. chemicals and products at Shell. We told you Lewis had replaced Hilary Mercer back in January (see 
In 2019, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) began formulating new regulations for intrastate pipelines transporting gasoline, petroleum, crude oil, and natural gas liquids like ethane. In July 2021, the PUC finally published a draft of new regulations (see