US affiliates of French oil and petchems giant Total, Austria-based Borealis and Canada’s Nova Chemicals have firmed up plans for a North American joint venture that would produce ethylene and polyethylene on the Texas Gulf Coast, taking  advantage of cheap shale gas-derived feedstock. The project was first announced last year.

Under the terms of the agreement, Total will own 50% of the production company, while Novealis Holdings, a joint venture between Borealis and Nova, will hold the remainder. The two companies are both partly owned by International Petroleum Investment Company of Abu Dhabi; the international arm of ADNOC.

The complex is planned to encompass the 1 million t/y light feed ethane cracker Total is building at Port Arthur, Texas, along with the French group’s existing 400,000 t/y PE plant at Bayport, Texas, and a new 625,000 t/y PE plant to be built at the Bayport site. A final decision on the latter facility will depend on the terms of a yet to be signed engineering and procurement contract. The cracker is due on stream in 2020.

In announcing the project, the companies said it would enable “strong integration of the value chain” and feature the first-time use of Borealis’ proprietary “Borstar” process technology in the Americas. The location on the Gulf would also provide access to export markets.

Signing the joint venture agreement is a “key milestone” for the integrated petrochemicals project, which is aligned with Total’s strategy to strengthen its position by taking advantage of low-cost US gas, said Bernard Pinatel, the company’s president, Refining & Chemicals. Pinatel said the group’s goal is to become “a major player in the growing US and global market for polyethylene.”

Total already operates a gas cracker at Port Arthur – which runs on mixed feed – in a partnership with BASF. This will not be part of the jv.