Belmont County | Energy Services | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Ohio | Processing Plants | PTT Global
Rumor: Holdup in PTT OH Cracker Final Decision Due to Labor Rate
Every now and again we traffic in rumors here on MDN, but we do so rarely and only when we trust the source of the rumor. We have such a rumor to share, from a source we trust implicitly. We’ve been carping for over a year that PTT Global Chemical has repeatedly violated our deep well of patience by hinting that a “final investment decision” (FID) is “coming soon” for their $7-$10 billion ethane cracker complex in Belmont County, OH (see Still No Ohio Cracker Announcement, Preparations Continue). We now know why the FID is tardy.
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As we keep pointing out, PTT Global Chemical, the company that says they want to build a $6 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH, keeps hinting that a “final investment decision” (FID) will come soon. Any day now. Just around the corner. They’ve been saying it for nearly two years.
Last week an Ohio man was arrested for allegedly calling in a bomb threat last November against Myers Well Service, located in Eighty Four (Washington County), PA. A cell phone belonging to Ryan Dougherty of Belmont, OH was used to make the threat. Dougherty claims he called the business, but didn’t make any threats. The investigation took three months. Last Tuesday authorities arrested and charged Dougherty. 
The Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources (ODNR) is doing a happy dance that they’ve shaken down XTO Energy $425,000 to settle a violation by XTO for drilling a shale well in Belmont County a year ago that exploded and caught fire.
The radicals of the Sierra Club along with some lesser-known but equally radical enviro groups are challenging an air quality permit recently granted by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for the PTT Global Chemical ethane cracker project in Belmont County, OH.
Is anyone surprised that the $6 billion ethane cracker plant complex proposed by PTT Global Chemical for Belmont County, OH did not, as previously promised, announce a final investment decision (FID) in 2018? We sure weren’t.
Last week the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency held an information session (to give out info) along with a public hearing (to accept comments) on the draft air pollution permit for PTT Global Chemical’s proposed ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
Still no sign from PTT Global Chemical that they will announce a final decision to proceed with building a $6 billion ethane cracker in Belmont County, OH, by the end of this year. The project was first announced in April 2015 (see 
EnCap Investments is a venture capital investor that funds independent companies in the U.S. oil and gas industry. EnCap has its fingers in a number of pies in the Marcellus/Utica. EnCap is the major investor behind Eclipse Resources and was instrumental in Eclipse selling itself to and merging with Blue Ridge Mountain Resources (see 
A number of times we’ve highlighted a cool training program offered by the The Gas Technology Institute (GTI). The 
Last Friday three county commissioners from Belmont County, OH took a field trip to visit Beaver County, PA, touring the Shell ethane cracker site and talking with Beaver County officials about how the project has impacted that area. Tuesday night, a member of the Potter Township (PA) Board of Supervisors came to a meeting of local leaders in Belmont County, to talk about the Shell cracker project and what such a project in Belmont could do for the Ohio Valley. PTT Global Chemical is supposedly close to making a final investment decision on building a cracker in Belmont. The interesting comment coming from Tuesday’s meeting was about the timing of a decision to build the PTT cracker: “It [the decision] will be revealed by the end of the year.” So says Belmont officials.
PTT Global Chemical announced in April 2015 they want to build a $6 billion ethane cracker plant complex in Belmont County, OH (see 
The Pareto Principle is alive and well in the Buckeye State. You may know it as the 80/20 rule, or in this case, the 75/25 rule. The rule that states roughly 80% of the results come from 20% of the effort. Last week MDN brought you the latest update from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources–their second quarter 2018 report showing all production coming from the Ohio Utica Shale (see