Shell Chemical is exploring a project to expand its olefins plant in Deer Park, Texas, and increase its ethylene production, the company said Wednesday.
"Shell is evaluating a proposed expansion of ethylene production at the existing Olefins cracker units at its Deer Park Manufacturing Site in Texas," it said in an emailed statement.
A company spokesman was not able to provide detail on the size of the targeted capacity expansion or the potential startup timeframe.
The company noted that several steps remain before it would make a final investment decision, ranging from concluding preparatory engineering and design work and seeking permits from Texas regulators, to evaluating downstream product support and any other potential global investments.
In late June, Shell Chemical received the air emissions permit for its proposed ethane cracker in Beaver County, Pennsylvania. The proposed $4 billion ethane cracker would be the first of its kind in the US Northeast. The cracker, expected to be completed in 2019, would feed production of 1.5 million mt/year of ethylene, 500,000 mt/year of gas-phased high density polyethylene, 500,000 mt/year of slurry HDPE, and 500,000 mt/year of linear low density polyethylene.
