Poly(ethylene) Wants a Cracker: OH Study Predicts Ethane Tsunami
A researcher and “Executive in Residence” from Cleveland State University, Andrew Thomas, writes about a new study produced by the University “to better understand the ramifications of huge quantities of natural gas and liquid ethane being produced in Ohio.” Unfortunately we were unable to track down a copy of the full study and its results, but we do have the summary as contributed by Thomas in writing for Crain’s Cleveland Business. And wow, what insights we gain! Thomas says the study he worked on concludes that even in this down market, Ohio’s production of natural gas liquids (NGLs), specifically ethane, is on a rocket ride to the moon. He says, “Ohio’s about to see an ethane tsunami.” He also says if all four ethane crackers that have been floated as possibilities for the region get built, that would only sop up one-third of the ethane supply projected to be produced in the Marcellus/Utica. Here’s the high-level but very exciting and insightful news coming from this study…
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It’s something straight out of the Tom Cruise movie Minority Report. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has fined the owner of five Pennsylvania natural gas processing plants and one West Virginia plant (six plants total) $50,221 for spills and leaks at the plants–that never happened. The EPA says Elkhorn Gas Processing hasn’t done enough to prevent such incidents from potentially happening, and therefore the EPA is shaking them down and making them pay for possible future violations. Perhaps it’s more like The Godfather than the Minority Report? Talk about an abuse of power! Do you need any further evidence that the Obama EPA is totally out of control?…
Wait a minute! We thought the proposed Odebrecht ethane cracker plant near Parkersburg in Wood County, WV was all but dead. Lifeless. In April the company said it was “re-evaluating plans” to build it (see 
Another piece of the puzzle slides into place with respect to the $5.7 billion ethane cracker project in Belmont County, OH planned by Thailand-based PTT Chemical and financial partner Marubeni Corp. from Japan (see 
An expert speaking at the Utica Summit III yesterday in Stark, OH said he believes the Marcellus/Utica region will see three, possibly four, ethane crackers built. Tom Gellrich of consulting firm TopLine Analytics, a company that “closely follows ethane markets,” said he thinks the first ethane cracker to get built will be the Shell cracker plant in Beaver County, PA…
Shell is currently spending an undisclosed amount of money (millions of dollars) to build a bridge to a site they now own where they may one day build a $2-$3 billion ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA (see 
In February 2013 MDN brought you news about plans from Appalachian Resins (AR) to build a polyethelene (PE) manufacturing plant complete with a “baby” ethane cracker. The original plan was to build it in the Wheeling, WV area. However, a year later the location shifted across the border to Monroe County, OH. As late as April of this year AR was still committed to the project (see 
Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest midstream company of them all? As it turns out–it’s MarkWest Energy, the premier midstream company in the Marcellus/Utica! EnergyPoint Research has just published the results from its 2015 Oil & Gas Midstream Services Customer Satisfaction Survey, and MarkWest Energy received the top rating–for the fourth consecutive time. Other northeast midstreamers rating tops in at least one category include Crestwood Midstream and Williams…
Listen up everyone who has an interest in Pennsylvania’s midstream–pipelines and processing plants. Billions of dollars are being spent in Pennsylvania as the gas industry builds out its pipelines to all parts of the northeast, Middle Atlantic, southeast and Midwest regions of the U.S. The two questions everyone wants to know: (1) Who is spending the money? and (2) Where is the money being spent? The answer to those two questions and more will be answered at the 
The one ethane cracker plant project announced for the Marcellus/Utica region that once seemed the mostly likely to proceed now seems the least likely to move forward–the Brazilian-based Odebrecht project planned for Wood County, WV. The ASCENT (Appalachina Shale Cracker Enterprise) project seemed to have the most momentum in 2014 (see