Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cpchem.com) announced yesterday that the two polyethylene facilities planned as part of the company’s U.S. Gulf Coast (USGC) Petrochemicals Project, would be located on a site nearby the Chevron Phillips Chemical Sweeny facility in Old Ocean, Texas.
In March 2011, Chevron Phillips Chemical announced that it planned to pursue a project to construct a world-scale ethane cracker and ethylene derivatives facilities in the USGC region. The two new polyethylene facilities will each have an annual capacity of 500,000 metric tons (m.t.; 1.1 billion lb) and will utilize Chevron Phillips Chemical’s proprietary Loop Slurry Technology.
In addition, the company also announced yesterday that it has executed a Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) agreement with Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc (Pasadena, Calif.; www.jacobs.com) to design the polyethylene facilities. The company also announced that it has executed a FEED agreement with Shaw Energy & Chemicals (Baton Rouge, La.; www.shawgrp.com) to design the previously announced 1.5-million m.t./yr (3.3-billion lb/yr) ethane cracker that would be located at Chevron Phillips Chemical’s existing Cedar Bayou facility in Baytown, Texas.
“The significant steps taken since our initial announcement of a feasibility study only one year ago reflect a strong endorsement of the USGC Petrochemicals Project by Chevron Phillips Chemical’s owners and management,” said Peter L. Cella, Chevron Phillips Chemical’s president and chief executive officer. “We continue to believe that synergy with our existing Gulf Coast operations, proximity to feedstock supply, and application of proprietary technologies uniquely positions our company to capitalize on the opportunity that development of abundant shale resources affords the United States, and in particular the Gulf Coast region.”
In total, the USGC Petrochemicals Project is expected to create approximately 400 long-term direct jobs and 10,000 engineering and construction jobs.
The estimated completion date for the USGC Petrochemicals Project is 2017.