ExxonMobil Chemical Co. has started up its 1.5 million-tonne/year ethane steam cracker at the company’s integrated chemical and refining complex in Baytown, Tex. (OGJ Online, June 19, 2014).
Entered into operation on July 26, the new cracker will provide ethylene feedstock for two 650,000-tpy high-performance polyethylene lines that began production in fall 2017 at the company’s plastics plant in Mont Belvieu, Tex., ExxonMobil Corp. said.
“Our new ethane cracker will help us meet the growing global demand for high-performance plastic products that deliver key sustainability benefits such as lighter packaging weight, lower energy consumption, and reduced emissions, further enhancing our competitiveness worldwide,” said John Verity, president of ExxonMobil Chemical.
Together, the Baytown ethane cracker and Mont Belvieu plant represent ExxonMobil’s largest chemical investment in the US to date and come as part of the company’s 10-year, $20-billion “Growing the Gulf” initiative, which includes 11 major chemical, refining, lubricant, and LNG projects along the Texas and Louisiana coasts to expand the company’s existing manufacturing and export capacity through at least 2022 (OGJ Online, Feb. 6, 2018).
ExxonMobil said it expects operations associated with the Baytown and Mont Belvieu projects to increase annual regional economic activity by roughly $870 million and generate more than $90 million annually in local tax revenues while creating 350 permanent jobs.
Alongside the Baytown cracker and Mont Belvieu polyethylene plant, ExxonMobil Chemical and Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) recently created a joint venture to advance development of their Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) project, a 1.8 million-tply ethane cracker currently planned for construction in San Patricio County, Tex. (OGJ, May 7, 2018, p. 25; OGJ Online, Apr. 19, 2017; July 25, 2016).
Construction of the project—which will also include a monoethylene glycol unit and two polyethylene units—is pending completion of the environmental permitting process.
If approved, the GCGV project would reach startup in a 2021-22 timeframe.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].
