Ethane

Energy Companies | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Rex Energy | Statewide PA

Rex Energy Cuts Deal to Export Ethane, Propane to Europe via Philly
April 12, 2016April 12, 2016

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 Range Resources Ethane Heading to Marcus Hook Beginning February). The Swiss-based company INEOS cut a deal to buy Range Resources ethane to power both Norwegian and Scottish cracker plants (see Cracker Plant in Scotland “Brought Back to Life” Thx to Marcellus Ethane). Now, Rex Energy has cut a deal with INEOS to buy ethane, propane and butane, according to an announcement yesterday by Rex. The particulars (i.e. financial aspects) of the deal were not announced…
Read More “Rex Energy Cuts Deal to Export Ethane, Propane to Europe via Philly”
Beaver County | Economic Impact | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell has Spent “Half a Billion Dollars” on PA Cracker Already!
April 8, 2016April 8, 2016

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 Shell Announces Location of Ethane Cracker Plant). Since that time Shell has purchased the property where they want to build the plant; they’re building a bridge and roads to the plant site; they’ve leased office space near the plant site. They’ve done a whole lot more. What we didn’t realize is that when you add it all together, according to Pat Nardelli, a partner at Castlebrook Development and speaker at the PBT event, Shell has spent “half billion to date if not more, and it’s going up every day.” Yikes! In this economy nobody blows a half bil on something they just decide to walk away from…
Read More “Shell has Spent “Half a Billion Dollars” on PA Cracker Already!”
Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA

Cracker Plant in Scotland “Brought Back to Life” Thx to Marcellus Ethane
March 30, 2016March 30, 2016

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…
Read More “Cracker Plant in Scotland “Brought Back to Life” Thx to Marcellus Ethane”
Belmont County | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | PTT Global

Ongoing Demolition Work at Future Belmont OH Ethane Cracker Site
March 29, 2016March 29, 2016

Bulldozers and heavy equipment continue to demolish an old coal-fired electric plant in Belmont County–at the site where PTT Global Chemical says they want to build a $5.7 billion ethane cracker plant. It’s a good sign that PTT continues to spend big money on the project. PTT is in the midst of spending $100 million on engineering plans for the plant (see PTT Announces 2 Contractors Working on Belmont Cracker Plant). The project is the first of all the announced cracker projects in the northeast to get its own website (see Getting Serious: Ohio Ethane Cracker Gets its Own Website). And now, demolition at the FirstEnergy R.E. Burger power plant site…
Read More “Ongoing Demolition Work at Future Belmont OH Ethane Cracker Site”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | NOVA Chemicals | Pipelines

Canadian Cracker Gets $400M Upgrade to Handle More Marc. Ethane
March 16, 2016March 16, 2016

Nova Chemicals’ Corunna (Ontario, Canada) cracker plant is in for a $400 million makeover to convert the plant into using 100% ethane feedstock. The project will also invest in a second pipeline to feed ethane from the Marcellus/Utica to the plant. Nova’s board of directors recently approved the investment and work is scheduled for 2017/2018. This is good news for Marcellus/Utica drillers who are waiting (seems like FOREVER) for a regional ethane cracker plant to get built somewhere in the northeast. Even if one of the three major (and one minor) cracker plants is green lighted for the Marcellus/Utica, will will take 4-5 years to build it. In the meantime, if they can contract pipeline space, drillers can send their ethane to nearby Corunna cracker plant–so this is good news indeed. Here’s the details…
Read More “Canadian Cracker Gets $400M Upgrade to Handle More Marc. Ethane”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Sunoco LP Takes a Bow for Mariner East 1, Looks Ahead to ME2
March 11, 2016March 11, 2016

Sunoco Logistics Partners issued an update yesterday to discuss the success they’re having with the Mariner East 1 pipeline–and to talk about what’s coming for the Mariner East 2 pipeline. Mariner East 1 began carrying propane in December 2014. Ethane shipments went online just last month, and the very first shipload of exported ethane left port two days ago (see Bon Voyage! First Ethane Export Ship Leaves Marcus Hook in Philly). The Mariner East 2 pipeline is on track to be completed by mid-2017, which will bring online another 275,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids shipping capacity from western PA and eastern OH. What’s funny is that Sunoco got a bunch of politicians to say nice things about the Mariner East project. Why is that funny? Because two of them–PA Gov. Tom Wolf and US Senator Robert Casey (both Democrats)–hate pipelines and hate fossil fuels! But they said nice things about Sunoco and Mariner East likely as a future chit to raise money from Sunoco for their campaigns. Hypocrites…
Read More “Sunoco LP Takes a Bow for Mariner East 1, Looks Ahead to ME2”
Energy Services | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Bon Voyage! First Ethane Export Ship Leaves Marcus Hook in Philly
March 10, 2016March 10, 2016

An Ineos tanker ship carrying 173,000 barrels of Marcellus ethane set sail yesterday from the Marcus Hook terminal near Philadelphia. On Feb. 24 we brought you the story that the ship would set sail “within a week” (see Marcellus Ethane Export Sets Sail “Within a Week” from Philly). One week turned into two weeks–perhaps that’s to be expected. But finally! Our Marcellus ethane is now on the high seas heading for Norway…
Read More “Bon Voyage! First Ethane Export Ship Leaves Marcus Hook in Philly”
Belmont County | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | PTT Global

Getting Serious: Ohio Ethane Cracker Gets its Own Website
March 1, 2016March 1, 2016

A brief mention, because it’s noteworthy. PTT Global is the Thailand-based chemical company floating a plan to build a multi-billion dollar ethane cracker plant in Belmont County, OH (see It’s Official: Belmont County Chosen as POSSIBLE Cracker Plant Site). Since the announcement last April, PTT has taken a number of steps toward making the Belmont ethane cracker a reality. They are in the midst of spending $100 million on engineering plans for the plant (see PTT Announces 2 Contractors Working on Belmont Cracker Plant). Paris, France-based Technip was also hired to design and build the furnaces and other key components of the cracker (see French Co. Gets Contract for Key Components in Belmont Cracker). It may seem minor in comparison, but PTT has just launched a new website dedicated to the cracker plant project…
Read More “Getting Serious: Ohio Ethane Cracker Gets its Own Website”
Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Processing Plants

Experts Say: If You Build One NE Cracker, More Will Come
February 29, 2016February 29, 2016

Elected officials, business leaders, labor union reps and people from several colleges gathered last week in Wheeling, WV to discuss the profound impact even one ethane cracker plant will have in the region. According to several who spoke, if the region lands even one cracker plant, it will have the effect of attracting others. There has been talk of four potential cracker plants in the Marcellus/Utica–three “world class scale” crackers and one smaller one. One expert speaking said he believes the region can comfortably handle up to six! Here was the excited cracker chatter from last week’s meeting…
Read More “Experts Say: If You Build One NE Cracker, More Will Come”
Energy Companies | Energy Services | Ethane | Exporting | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | Range Resources Corp | Sunoco Logistics

Marcellus Ethane Export Sets Sail “Within a Week” from Philly
February 25, 2016February 25, 2016

We’ve been predicting for some time, but the day is almost here when the first export shipment of Marcellus and Utica ethane will leave the Marcus Hook terminal in Philadelphia and head to Norway. Genscape, which monitors pipelines and trucks and ships and uses really cool technology to alert them of when these things are about to happen says the first ethane export from Philly will happen “within a week”…
Read More “Marcellus Ethane Export Sets Sail “Within a Week” from Philly”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Leases 76,000 Sq Ft Office Space Near Cracker Plant Site
February 17, 2016February 17, 2016

We believe there’s little doubt remaining that Shell will commit to building a $3 billion ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. The evidence continues to mount. Shell is spending big bucks on a variety of activities related the project, as we’ve previously indicated (see Shell Begins Hiring for Monaca, PA Ethane Cracker Plant). The latest evidence comes from the Pittsburgh Business Times who has an inside source telling them that Shell has cut a deal with Michael Baker International to lease a 76,000-square-foot building with a 400-car parking lot sitting on 100 acres near the proposed cracker site in Beaver County…
Read More “Shell Leases 76,000 Sq Ft Office Space Near Cracker Plant Site”
Boardwalk Pipeline Partners | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Litigation | NGLs | Pipelines | Williams

Bluegrass Pipeline Aborted Before It was Born – RIP
February 17, 2016February 17, 2016

Is it time to declare the Bluegrass Pipeline dead? It certainly appears that way. The Bluegrass, you may recall, was a $1.5 billion joint venture between Williams and Boardwalk Pipeline Partners project that would have piped natural gas liquids (NGLs, mostly ethane) from the Utica/Marcellus all the way to Gulf Coast for processing and sale. Some 200 miles of the pipeline was due to be built through Kentucky–the Bluegrass State. But the wacky libs of Kentucky pushed back, suing Bluegrass over its plan to use eminent domain. In March 2014, Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd ruled Bluegrass could not use eminent domain (see Judge Rules Bluegrass Pipeline Cannot Use Eminent Domain in KY). At that point Williams and Boardwalk squabbled over the future of the project (see Williams Stops Work on Bluegrass Pipeline, Boardwalk Says “It’s Not Dead”). The case moved on to the Court of Appeals. In May 2015, a three-judge panel agreed with Franklin Circuit Judge Shepherd that only pipeline companies that are or will be regulated by the state’s Public Service Commission can use eminent domain (see Appeals Court blocks Bluegrass Pipeline eminent domain). The case went all the way to the Kentucky Supreme Court where, last week, the high court ruled the lower court rulings will stand. Case closed…
Read More “Bluegrass Pipeline Aborted Before It was Born – RIP”
Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Kinder Morgan | Ohio | Pipelines | Statewide OH

UTOPIA Ethane Pipeline Faces Virtually No Opposition in OH
February 16, 2016February 16, 2016

This is not a story you often hear these days: A natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline slated to be built in Ohio is facing virtually no opposition. Last month we updated you on Kinder Morgan’s UTOPIA (Utica To Ontario Pipeline Access) ethane pipeline (see Kinder Morgan Ready to Move Forward with UTOPIA East Pipeline). The 12-inch ethane pipeline will run 240 miles and will only be built in Ohio–therefore the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) won’t be involved in permitting the project. The pipeline will connect to another pipeline (in Ohio) and that pipeline will carry ethane all the way to Ontario to a cracker plant. Perhaps lack of FERC involvement is the secret to limited opposition? Who knows! Construction won’t begin on the project until 2017 and UTOPIA won’t be online until early 2018. But before that can happen, Kinder Morgan has to secure easements from approximately 900 landowners in Ohio. A full one-third of the deals are ALREADY DONE. Some 98% of landowners granted permission for Kinder Morgan to survey their property. Seems to us like a textbook case of how to build a pipeline! Now if Kinder could only duplicate that success with their Northeast Energy Direct pipeline running through New England (sigh). Here’s an update on UTOPIA’s rapid progress…
Read More “UTOPIA Ethane Pipeline Faces Virtually No Opposition in OH”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Begins Hiring for Monaca, PA Ethane Cracker Plant
February 10, 2016February 10, 2016

Yesterday a sharp MDN reader called our attention to a job posting on LinkedIn. The posting, by Shell, seeks a “Technical Service Team Lead Polyethylene (Pittsburgh, PA).” When you read the job listing (below) it clearly states it the job is for their Monaca, PA ethane cracker plant complex. Now this is a single job posting–so far–although it’s for a very important position. Still, our point is this: You don’t spend millions building a new bridge over a highway as a new entrance to a piece of property (see Shell Begins Building Bridge to PA Cracker Plant Site), you don’t spend $80 million to clean up that site (see Shell Paying $80M to Clean Up PA Site for Ethane Cracker Plant), you don’t spend $69 million to move a water intake site and build a new water treatment site for the local town because the current water intake is on the site where you want to build (see Shell Paying $69M to Move Water Plant for Cracker Project), you don’t spend money to lease land to build two ethane pipelines to that site (see Exclusive: Shell Leasing Land for 2 Pipelines to PA Cracker Plant), and you don’t begin hiring people to work on/at the plant–unless you’re serious about building it…
Read More “Shell Begins Hiring for Monaca, PA Ethane Cracker Plant”
Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Shell

Exclusive: Shell Leasing Land for 2 Pipelines to PA Cracker Plant
February 5, 2016February 5, 2016

MDN received an exclusive tip from a trusted source (who is also an MDN subscriber) yesterday about the Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA. Our source, who lives in Beaver County, told us he was approached by a Shell landman about signing a pipeline right-of-way through his property to build a pipeline to the plant. We have an account of our source’s conversation with the landman, and some key information the landman let slip about Shell’s plans for two such pipelines…
Read More “Exclusive: Shell Leasing Land for 2 Pipelines to PA Cracker Plant”
Braskem | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

A Crack of Light for the West Virginia Cracker?
February 1, 2016February 1, 2016

Speaking at an industry conference in Pittsburgh last week, West Virginia’s Dept. of Commerce Secretary, Keith Burdette, indicated there’s still a faint blip on the monitor that Odebrecht may yet decide to build an ethane cracker plant in Wood County, WV. According to Burdette, Odebrecht’s subsidiary Braskem will purchase more land for the cracker by the end of the first quarter. If the Odebrecht cracker project was as dead as a door nail (which it has appeared to be in recent months), it doesn’t seem like they would continue to spend money on it. Right? Burdette also said all three large cracker projects, Odebrecht, Shell’s project in PA, and PTT Global’s project in OH have indicated they are likely to push off a final investment decision (FID) until 2017. Bummer…
Read More “A Crack of Light for the West Virginia Cracker?”