More Progress at Shell’s PA Ethane Cracker Plant Site
All signs continue to point to a “go” decision for Shell’s planned ethane cracker plant facility in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. Shell has now spent over half a billion dollars out of a projected $2-$3 billion (25%) on the project already (see Shell has Spent “Half a Billion Dollars” on PA Cracker Already!). Last month a local mall owner said that Shell has leased part of the mall’s parking lot for big bucks (see More Evidence that the Shell Ethane Cracker Plant in PA is a Go). And just last week Shell’s CFO said the PA cracker project is “an excellent project” and they expect to make a decision soon (see Shell Says PA Cracker Decision Coming < 12 Months – Looking Good). We can throw a few more positive signs into the mix. A bridge Shell was building over top a local highway to give trucks easy access to the site is now complete. Shell has committed $69 million to build a new water treatment plant for the local town. And they are now building a new dock facility which, according to Shell, will be “critical” to building the new plant…
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The muckety-mucks from Shell held their quarterly earnings phone call with analysts yesterday–and there is what we consider big news to report coming from that call. In response to a question from an analyst, Shell’s Chief Financial Officer, Simon Henry, commented there are four major “chemicals” projects currently under consideration by Shell. He also said a decision on the PA cracker plant project planned in Beaver County will likely be the first decision to be made because of “the timing of certain commitments that are already in place.” He added these glowing words about the PA cracker: “It’s an excellent project…[that] provides quite some portfolio resilience relative to the rest of the opportunities.” He later said “It’s a very strong and robust project.” If the price of oil were higher than the current $40, pulling the trigger on the PA cracker would be “a very easy decision.” When you read his comments, it’s hard to miss the enthusiasm at the highest echelons inside Shell…
It’s only been one year since Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical announced they are interested in building a $5 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
We have more evidence that Shell’s Monaca (Beaver County), PA cracker plant is now a go. MDN previously told you that Shell has already spent upward of half a billion dollars out of the projected $2-$3 billion it will take to build the project (see 
It was exactly a year ago (last Friday) that PTT Global Chemical announced their intentions to build an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, OH (see 
Rex Energy has stepped up to be the second Marcellus/Utica driller to cut a deal using the Mariner East pipeline to ship ethane, propane and (eventually) butane from western PA to the Marcus Hook refinery in Philadelphia, and from there load it onto ships heading to (in this case) Europe. Range Resources was the first driller to use Sunoco Logistics Partners’ Mariner East pipeline to send ethane to Marcus Hook and on to exporting (see 
The Pittsburgh Business Times hosted an event yesterday in Beaver County, PA–the place where Shell is spending money to explore whether or not to build an ethane cracker plant. Seems like we’ve been writing about Shell’s potential ethane cracker forever. We’ve chronicled just about every up and down. We’ve also highlighted various initiatives they’ve undertaken since announcing Monaca, PA as their chosen site–something they did back in March 2012, now four years ago (see 
The Swiss-based company INEOS is a young but rapidly growing chemical company with roughly $40 billion in sales per year. INEOS’ competitors would be companies like BASF, Bayer and Dow Chemical. One of the projects owned by INEOS is an ethane cracker/chemical plant complex in Grangemouth, Scotland. It is Scotland’s biggest manufacturing complex hosting Europe’s biggest ethane storage tank–able to store up to 33,000 tonnes of liquid natural gas. INEOS announced yesterday that the second manufacturing unit at the Grangemouth plant has been “brought back to life” some eight years after being mothballed. The reason? To begin processing Marcellus shale ethane that will be shipped to it later this year from the Marcus Hook refinery near Philadelphia…