Sasol secures financing for Louisiana petrochemical complex
Sasol Ltd. has completed a $4 billion credit facility for its proposed integrated ethane cracker and downstream derivatives complex to built adjacent to the company’s existing operations near Lake Charles in Westlake, La. (OGJ Online, Dec. 3, 2012).
A syndicate of 18 international banks and other financial institutions will act as lenders for the credit facility, with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. serving as administrative agent and Bank of America NA as the account bank, Sasol said on Dec. 22.
Sasol will raise the remainder of the funds required to build the $8.9 billion petrochemical complex in a phased manner from a variety of potential sources, including surplus cash available in the group, according to the company.
“Securing this financing facility is another key milestone in advancing a defining project for the company,” said Paul Victor, Sasol’s acting chief financial officer.
The announcement follows Sasol’s taking of final investment decision on the project in October (OGJ Online, Oct. 27, 2014).
Earlier in the month, Sasol let a contract to Toyo Engineering Korea Ltd. (TEK), a subsidiary of Toyo Engineering Corp., to provide detailed engineering, procurement, module fabrication, and construction support services for a 450,000-tonne/year (tpy) linear low-density polyethylene plant (LLDPE) to be included at the complex (OGJ Online, Dec. 4, 2014).
In addition to the LLDPE plant and a grassroots ethane cracker capable of producing 1.5 million tpy of ethylene, the complex will include five other chemical manufacturing plants.
With site preparation now under way, the new complex currently is on schedule to be commissioned in 2018 (OGJ Online, Nov. 3, 2014).
