Beaver County | Energy Companies | Ethane | Industrywide Issues | Pennsylvania | Processing Plants | Shell
Shocker: Shell Considers Selling Beaver County, PA Ethane Cracker
According to the Wall Street Journal, Shell is “exploring a potential sale of its chemicals assets in Europe and the U.S.,” according to “people familiar with the matter.” The review and potential sale are part of a continuing drive to refocus the company’s business on its most profitable operations. One of the petchem assets that may be on the auction block is the recently completed Monaca (Beaver County, PA) ethane cracker complex. Our heads are officially exploding. Read More “Shocker: Shell Considers Selling Beaver County, PA Ethane Cracker”
Wow! Is this the Trump effect? For the week of Jan 13 – 19, permits issued in the Marcellus/Utica to drill new shale wells achieved levels we haven’t seen in, oh, about four years. There were 41 new permits issued last week, up significantly from 27 issued the week before and 30 issued two weeks before. The Keystone State (PA) issued a whopping 25 new permits, with 17 (!) going to EQT spread across Greene and Washington counties. Another six permits went to Chesapeake Energy (now Expand Energy) in Bradford County. One permit each went to Range Resources and Apex Energy in Beaver and Westmoreland counties, respectively. 
In May 2023, two radicalized Big Green groups—the Environmental Integrity Project (based in D.C.) and the Clean Air Council (based in Philadelphia)—filed a lawsuit against the Shell Polymers Monaca Plant (ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA), claiming the plant has repeatedly violated federal air pollution limits (see 
Last Friday, RBN Energy published a blog post declaring that the Shell ethane cracker in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, is now “firing on all cylinders.” The post retrospectively covers the project’s history, from construction through recent problems as the plant was commissioned to the present day. We learned something interesting: Shell, a petrochemical giant and owner of other cracker plants producing various products, had exited the plastic pellets business years ago. The Monaca cracker is Shell reentering that market. 
The mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca (Beaver County), PA, has a new person in charge: Emma Lewis, senior vice president of U.S. chemicals and products at Shell. We told you Lewis had replaced Hilary Mercer back in January (see 
In March, MDN told you that the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) told Shell to file for a Title V air permit for its ethane cracker in Monaca no later than June 21 of this year or risk being shut down (see 
Patience is a rare commodity these days. We live in a day and age of instant gratification. Our food is made and delivered in minutes. The latest gizmo we want can be on our doorstep the next day (or, in some cases, the same day) from Amazon and any number of other retailers. Entertainment and distractions are everywhere! Just lift your eyes from your own phone and observe everyone else around you staring at their phones. So perhaps it is no surprise that some people feel lied to because the mighty Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County, PA, hasn’t instantly delivered the promised thousands of extra jobs and dozens of relocated companies.
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has extended three temporary air permits for the Shell ethane cracker plant in Monaca, PA, which would have expired at the end of April. The extended permits will suffice until Shell files for and receives what is called a federal Title V Operating Permit for air emissions from the cracker plant. In March, we told you that the DEP had told Shell to file for a Title V permit no later than June 21 of this year or risk being shut down (see 
Although Shell maintains flaring and accidental emissions from its multi-billion-dollar ethane cracker in Beaver County, PA, have not violated state and federal air standards, the Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) says they have — on numerous occasions. Shell didn’t argue the point, and in May 2023, the company agreed to pay nearly $10 million in fines and “contributions” to benefit the local community (see