LACC lets contract for Louisiana petrochemical complex

LACC LLC, a venture of Lotte Chemical Corp. subsidiary Lotte Chemical USA Corp. and Westlake Chemical Corp., has let a contract to McDermott International Ltd. to deliver engineering, procurement, and construction for a seventh heater to be added at LACC’s 1-million tonnes/year ethane cracking complex in Westlake, La. (OGJ Online, May 10, 2019).

Designed to support cracker operations at the site, the new heater will be equipped with proprietary Short Residence Time (SRT)-III technology from McDermott’s preferred technology partner Lummus Technology LLC, the service provider said on July 14.

EPC activities on the project are scheduled to begin immediately for a targeted commissioning date in fall 2023, according to McDermott.

Additional details regarding the contract, including its value, were not disclosed.

While new cracking furnaces typically are added to cracker operations to accommodate increased capacity, neither Lotte Chemical nor Westlake Chemical have indicated any official plans to expand production at the Westlake complex.   

Commissioned in 2019, the $3.1-billion, 250-acre southwestern Louisiana petrochemical complex—which produces 2.2 billion lb/year of ethylene—also houses a 700,000-tpy monoethylene glycol plant operated by Lotte subsidiary Lotte Chemical Louisiana LLC (OGJ Online, Apr. 23, 2018).