ExxonMobil Corp. (Irving, Tex.) and SABIC (Riyadh, Saudi Arabia) announced that their joint venture, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures located near Corpus Christi, Texas, has reached mechanical completion of a monoethylene glycol unit and two polyethylene units. Project startup is expected to begin ahead of schedule, likely in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“Gulf Coast Growth Ventures is a key development of our plan to serve growing demand for our high value performance products,” said Karen McKee, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. “This is truly a best-in-class project, as demonstrated in schedule acceleration and cost competitiveness, despite the many challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
“We are very proud to bring GCGV one step closer to operations,” said Abdulrahman Al-Fageeh, SABIC’s executive vice president of petrochemicals. “Not only are we ahead of schedule, but we have executed this project with the highest commitment and emphasis on safety with nearly 18 million safe person-hours worked, all while acting on the promises we made to the community when we started this journey four years ago.”
The project created more than 600 permanent jobs with average salaries of $90,000 per year. An additional 6,000 high-paying jobs were created during construction. The venture has generated more than $22 billion in economic output for the state of Texas during construction and is estimated to create $50 billion in economic benefits during the first six years of operation.
The project, which includes a 1.8 million metric ton ethane steam cracker, is expected to be delivered under budget and approximately 25 percent less than the average cost of similar projects along the U.S. Gulf Coast. When completed, GCGV will produce 1,100 kilotons of monoethylene glycol and 1,300 kilotons of polyethylene per year.
Monoethylene glycol is commonly used in the manufacturing of polyesters and automotive coolants, and as a building block to create various forms of high-performance plastics. Polyethylene is commonly used in protective film, packaging and bottles and containers that prolong the shelf-life of food and medicines, as well as in various automotive parts that improve fuel efficiency and performance, and in medical applications.
Ownership interests in the Gulf Coast Growth Ventures project is 50 percent ExxonMobil and 50 percent SABIC, with ExxonMobil as site operator.