Ethane

Belmont County | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants

Rumor: Ohio Cracker Plant Announcement Coming This Week
April 21, 2015April 21, 2015

Last October MDN told you about the rumor that a pair of companies from Thailand and Japan were partnering with the aim of building an ethane cracker plant in the Marcellus/Utica region (see Thailand & Japan Partner to Build 3rd Big Marcellus Ethane Cracker). It’s not just any pair of companies, either. The companies are Thailand’s largest chemical company, Bangkok-based PTT Global Chemical, and Japan’s fifth largest general trading company/conglomerates, Tokyo-based Marubeni Corp. These are serious players. They were reported to be considering three different locations in Pennsylvania and Ohio. Since that time we’ve not heard anything–until now. Yesterday, Columbus Business First reporter Tom Knox reported PTT is taking a “big step forward” in the process and has decided on a site in Belmont County, OH. The new rumor is that PTT/Ohio will make some sort of announcement this week…
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Appalachian Resins | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Monroe County | Ohio | Processing Plants

Ohio “Baby Cracker” Plant Still a Go – 2018 Startup Date
April 21, 2015April 21, 2015

Lots of cracker plant talk today on MDN. Last October, MDN told you about potential plans for a “baby” ethane cracker plant–smaller than the typical project–to be built (potentially) in Monroe County, OH (see Ohio to Get “Baby” Ethane Cracker Originally Slated for WV). The company behind that project is Appalachian Resins (AR). Their plan is to build an ethylene/polyethylene production facility rather than a full-blown cracker plant. Although smaller, it would still be a huge (really huge) economic boom for the region. A few weeks ago DownstreamToday learned that AR is still committed to moving forward with their plans to build the baby cracker in Monroe County, even though some of the economics have changed…
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

PA DEP Signals Approval for Shell Ethane Cracker Air Quality Plan
March 31, 2015March 31, 2015

We understand it’s a really big commitment to decide to spend $2 billion or more on a single project, like the Shell ethane cracker plant announced in June 2011 that may (or may not) be coming to the Marcellus (see Shell Commits to Building a Billion Dollar Chemical Plant in the Marcellus Region of U.S.). But after a while (nearly four years!), the waiting grows tiresome. In March 2012 Shell settled on a potential site in Monoca (Beaver County), PA, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh (see Shell Announces Location of Ethane Cracker Plant). In June 2012, a Shell official said a final decision on whether or not to build was “18 to 24 months away” (see Shell: Final Decision on Cracker Plant Still 18-24 Mo. Away). Er, right. The end of the 24 months was nine months ago. Still, there have been some positive signs, including a very positive sign from last Saturday…
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell | Taxation

Beaver County Officials Don’t Think Wolf’s Tax Will Kill Shell Cracker
March 3, 2015March 3, 2015

Let’s do some simple arithmetic and use some basic logic. If you drill less Marcellus and Utica Shale wells, you get less natural gas and gas liquids–like ethane. If you have less ethane, and if there’s already several pipelines flowing that lesser amount of ethane out of the region, you don’t have much left over to feed a big ethane cracker plant–like the one Shell is considering for Beaver County, PA. Make sense? It does to PA’s new Senate Majority Leader, Jake Corman, who said a proposed severance tax–that would cause drilling to drastically be scaled back–may kill the Shell project (see New PA Senate Leader Says Severance Tax Could Kill Cracker Plant). Although Democrats like PA Gov. Tom Wolf don’t like the fact that actions (and not good intentions) have consequences, they do. And a severance tax will drastically reduce the number of new Marcellus wells drilled in the state, and cause a decrease in the amount of ethane being extracted. Local business and political leaders in Beaver County don’t quite see it that way though…
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Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | West Virginia | Wood County

Parkersburg Cracker Plant Decision May Not Come in 2015 After All
February 23, 2015February 23, 2015

Last week MDN noted having spotted the first cloud over the Odebrect project to build a $3 billion ethane/petrochemical plant near Parkersburg, WV (see First Cloud Appears for Odebrect WV Ethane Cracker Plant Project). Ostensibly it is the low price of oil that’s causing Odebrecht to reconsider whether or not they will move forward with the project. As we pointed out, “reevaluating” doesn’t mean they’ve decided not to move forward. It just means they’re taking their time. There is, however, a marked change in the “feeling” about this project. Prior to recent comments by Odebrecht the very strong presumption is that the project will proceed. Now? That presumption is no longer quite so strong. WV officials, from both the state and from Wood County where the cracker is due to be built, weighed in with their observation that it’s not the location of the cracker that’s in question…
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Braskem | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Odebrecht | Processing Plants | Statewide WV | West Virginia | Wood County

First Cloud Appears for Odebrect WV Ethane Cracker Plant Project
February 18, 2015February 18, 2015

Hmmm. Is there a cloud on the horizon over the Odebrecht ethane cracker project proposed for Parkersburg, WV? Until now every single thing we’ve read or heard (or discussions we’ve had with David Peebles from Odebrecht) have indicated the WV ethane cracker project is full speed ahead, pedal to the metal. It was only at the tail end of 2013 that the project was announced (see WV Announces Brazilian Company to Build Ethane Cracker Complex). The $4 billion project will construct not only an ethane cracker, but several petrochemical plants as well (see Odebrect Cracker Aims to Attract Chemical/Plastics Manufacturing). In fairness, Odebrecht has said a final decision won’t be made until later this year (see Odebrecht WV Cracker Plant Decision “By End of 2015?). And until now, it certainly seemed like this project, even more than the Shell cracker in Pennsylvania, has had the momentum. Then we read this…
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Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell

Shell Trimming $15B in Spending Next 3 Years – PA Cracker?
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

Shell released their fourth quarter 2014 results yesterday, along with comments on what’s ahead for 2015. Full year profits for Shell were up in 2014–to $19 billion (a mind-blowing number). However, the company plans to trim $15 billion worth of spending in over the next three years. Ouch. MDN wondered if the Shell ethane cracker plant planned for Monaca, PA is on the list to trim…
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Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

PHMSA Update on ATEX Pipeline Explosion in WV – Faulty Weld?
January 30, 2015January 30, 2015

It’s been five days since a section of the Appalachia to Texas (ATEX) Express ethane pipeline ruptured/exploded and burned in Brooke County, WV (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns near Follansbee, WV). Since the pipeline is under the regulatory oversight of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), that organization is doing the investigation into the accident. The rupture and resulting fire burned approximately 24,000 barrels of ethane and scorched some 5 acres of woodland. What has the PHMSA learned so far? Not much. They have some theories, according to an initial report. It appears that the 20-inch pipeline ruptured near a section that had been welded together…
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Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Enterprise Products Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

Enterprise Releases 2014 Results – Remains Mum on ATEX Explosion
January 29, 2015January 29, 2015

Enterprise Products Partners, a huge $41 billion midstream company with 51,000 miles of pipelines, and the company that built the Appalachia to Texas (ATEX) Express pipeline, released their 2014 results today. In the update is no mention of the explosion and fire along the ATEX in Brooke County, WV that happened on Monday (see ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV). We’ve looked, and haven’t found a peep about what caused the explosion. The agency charged with investigating the pipeline rupture is the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA)…
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Accidents | Brooke County | Energy Services | Energy Transfer Partners | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pipelines | West Virginia

ATEX Ethane Pipeline Explodes, Burns in Brooke County, WV
January 27, 2015January 27, 2015

Yesterday morning a section of the 20-inch ATEX (Appalachia to Texas) ethane pipeline ruptured and caught fire in Follansbee (Brooke County), WV. No one was injured but two families living nearby were evacuated as a precaution. The first calls of an explosion and fire came around 10:40 am yesterday. The cause of the rupture is not yet known…
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Anti-Drilling/Fossil Fuel | Butler County | Ethane | Health Impacts | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Research

Philly Clean Air Council “Studies” Shell Cracker Plant Impacts
January 14, 2015January 14, 2015

The Philadelphia-based Clean Air Council, a partisan, anti-drilling organization, has just issued a so-called Health Impact Assessment (HIA) for the proposed Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA (full copy embedded below). The so-called HIA has a long list of “recommendations” for Shell, most of which will cost big bucks to implement. The HIA has no official standing and Shell can completely ignore it if they so choose. However, Shell says they’re studying it now and will consider the information it conveys as they continue to evaluate their plans to build a $2-$3 billion ethane cracker near Pittsburgh. Below we have the press release from the anti-drilling Clean Air Council, along with some initial response from Shell…
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Accidents | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Washington County | Williams

Explosion, Fire at Meter Station Along Williams Ethane Pipeline in SWPA
December 31, 2014December 31, 2014

A meter station along the Williams Ohio Valley Ethane pipeline reportedly exploded and caught fire in in Chartiers Township (Washington County), PA–about four miles from Houston, PA–on Christmas Eve. The fire has caused the shut-down of the ethane pipeline that runs some 50 miles from Marshall County, WV to an ethane hub in Houston…
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Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Reliance Industries

Marcellus Ethane will Head to India Aboard 6 New Japanese Ships
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

You may recall that all of the LNG (liquefied natural gas) that will be produced at the under construction export facility in Cove Point, Maryland will be sold to two countries: Japan and India (see Dominion’s Cove Point LNG Facility Achieves Important Milestones). Japan and India are teaming up again–but this time it’s for America’s ethane instead of methane. Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s single largest company of any kind (conglomerate that includes oil and gas drilling) has ordered up 6 Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs) for an undisclosed sum from Japanese company Mitsui. The VLEC ships will transport some 1.5 million tons of ethane per year to India, where it will be used to feed Indian ethane cracker plants. Since RIL has two joint ventures in the Marcellus, it’s a safe bet that some of that exported ethane will be coming from the Marcellus…
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Ethane | Industrywide Issues

Louisiana Ethane Cracker for Marcellus Gas Built with Intl Money
December 29, 2014December 29, 2014

In June 2014, MDN told you about a Range Resources deal to sell some of their ethane to a cracker plant, yet to be built, in Lake Charles, Louisiana (see Range Announces Multiple Agreements to Sell Natgas & Ethane). The Lake Charles cracker plant is part of a huge $8.9 billion petrochemical complex that will be built by energy/chemical company Sasol. In a press release last week, Sasol announced they’ve secured $4 billion in a “credit facility” (i.e. loans) for the project, although they don’t mention when construction will actually get under way. Aside from the fact that Marcellus ethane, in part, will feed the plant, what struck us as interesting is the international nature of the project. Some 18 international banks and investment firms are involved in the $4 billion credit deal. Sasol itself is a South African company; the Bank of Tokyo is the administrative agent for the deal; Bank of America is the account bank; HSBC (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation) is the “security trustee” for the $4B loan; and the Bank of Scotland is financial adviser. It’s a real panoply of international involvement!…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Ethane | Housing | Industrialization | Industrywide Issues | Jobs | Odebrecht | Ohio | Processing Plants | Washington County (OH) | West Virginia | Wood County

WV/OH Officials Going on Field Trip to Prepare for Cracker Plant
December 24, 2014December 24, 2014

The Odebrecht ethane cracker plant planned for the Parkersburg, WV area continues to walk/smell/act/behave like it’s the real deal. The latest evidence: Odebrecht has told area officials around Parkersburg, you need to be prepared for when the 100% official announcement comes, cause at that point, things will happen fast. So area officials are boning up now to be prepared for an influx of people and jobs–both a good thing, and a challenge. Area officials from Wood County, WV and neighboring Washington County, OH will head to the bitter-cold north country–Minot, North Dakota–in January (!) to see how that community has dealt with a rapidly expanding population and influx of new jobs due to the Bakken Shale…
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Economic Impact | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | NGLs | Pennsylvania | Pipelines | Processing Plants | Statewide PA | Sunoco Logistics

Permit Filing Reveals NGL Mix Expected from Mariner East Pipelines
November 20, 2014November 20, 2014

Earlier this month MDN told you that Sunoco Logistics has decided to move forward–if they get regulatory approval–with building the Mariner East 2 natural gas liquids (NGL) pipeline which will stretch from eastern Ohio all the way to the Philadelphia area (see Sunoco Logistics Will Build $2.5B Mariner East 2 Pipeline). The pipeline and associated upgrades will cost Sunoco $2.5 billion. Some of the “associated upgrades” will be to the Marcus Hook refinery near Philly. A Reuters investigation, released yesterday, unearthed new details about Sunoco’s plans for the Marcus Hook refinery. Reuters got a hold of permit applications Sunoco filed with the state Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) in September which discloses the capacities and types of storage tanks Sunoco plans to build to hold all those incoming NGLs, which tells us what they expect to receive via the Mariner East I & II pipelines once both are operational…
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