Shell Wins Air Permit for Proposed US Ethane Project

Shell has received an air-permit application for a proposed ethane-best petrochemical complex in western Pennsylvania from the state’s Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).
The multinational oil and petrochemicals giant recently completed the purchase of land for the complex in Monaca, Pennsylvania but has still not confirmed plans to build.
If realized, the plans would include a 1.5 milltion t/y ethane cracker and three downstream polyethylene units with combined capacity of 1.6 million t/y.
Two of the PE plants, each with a capacity of 550,000 t/y, would use gas-phase process, while a third would be a slurry unit with a capacity for 500,000 t/y.
Several other international petrochemical producers – including Odebrecht/Braskem, PTT Global and Marubeni are eyeing ethane crackers plans to take advantage of cheap US shale gas but the fall in oil prices worldwide has caused many to review their plans.
No new units are likely to go on stream before around 2020. As the US northeast lacks storage capacity for liquefied gas, some companies, including Sunoco, have announced plans to export overseas.