LyondellBasell multiplying its ethylene capacity at the US Gulf coast

The American multinational chemical company based in Houston, Texas, LyondellBasell, plans to introduce three major projects. The company tries to multiply ethylene capacity at the U.S. Gulf coast through these growth projects.

The company’s first project is the methanol plant at Channelview, Texas which was placed into service in fourth-quarter 2013 to take advantage of low-cost natural gas from shale formations. The unit had been out of service since 2004 due to the rising cost of natural gas, the key feedstock for methanol production, the company said.

Patrick Quarles, senior vice-president for LyondellBasell’s intermediates and derivatives division, said that the methanol plant restart is the first in a series of US Gulf Coast projects by LyondellBasell to take advantage of the natural gas price advantage that we enjoy from shale gas

The methanol plant project and other significant debottleneck projects will bring new capacity into the company’s system earlier and at lower costs than constructing entirely new facilities, Quarles added.

The secondary growth projects of LyondellBasell include expansions of ethylene capacity at La Porte, Channelview, and Corpus Christi, Tex., that will add 1.8 billion lb/year to the company’s capacity.

In March 2013, said that, starting in 2014, it will expand its Corpus Christi, Tex., cracker by about 363,000 tonnes/year with start-up targeted for 2015.Construction associated with the La Porte, Tex., expansion was to begin in March 2013, adding about 363,000 tpy upon completion in 2014.

A third project in Channelview, Tex., will add about 113,000 tpy of ethylene in 2015, the company said. The company also plans an expansion of a polyethylene facility in Matagorda County, Texas.

LyondellBasell projects to increase ethylene capacity are running on schedule.