Williams Partners LP, Tulsa, has completed the sale of its indirect ownership interest in the recently rebuilt and expanded Geismar, La., olefins plant and complex to Nova Chemicals Corp., Calgary (OGJ Online, Apr. 17, 2017).
As part of the July 6 transaction, Nova Chemicals paid Williams Partners $2.1 billion in cash for 100% interest in Williams Olefins LLC, which owned an 88.46% undivided stake in the Geismar olefins plant and associated complex, the companies said.
Alongside ownership interest in the 1.95 million-tonne/year Geismar ethylene plant, Nova Chemicals also acquired 525 acres of undeveloped land next to the complex as well as Williams’ interest in the ethylene trading hub at Mont Belvieu, Tex., Nova Chemicals said.
Concurrent with finalizing the sale, Williams additionally confirmed its subsidiaries have entered long-term fee-for-service agreements with Nova Chemicals for supply and transportation of ethane feedstock from fractionation and storage sites in Mont Belvieu to the Geismar plant via Williams Partners’ 270-mile Bayou ethane pipeline.
Acquisition of Williams’ Geismar olefins business comes as part of Nova Chemicals’ long-term growth strategy to benefit from access to large US shale reserves while expanding its presence at the US Gulf Coast, the Canadian operator said.
Nova Chemicals previously announced two additional projects to help meet growing consumer demand for polyethylene (PE), including a deal with Total SA and Borealis AG of Vienna to build a 1 million-tpy ethane steam cracker and 625,000-tpy PE production plant at Houston-based Total Petrochemicals & Refining USA Inc.’s manufacturing sites along the Texas Gulf Coast, as well as the proposed construction of a PE plant in Sarnia, Ont., based on its proprietary Advanced SCLAIRTECH technology.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
