NYSE-listed and global manufacturer of chemicals and petrochemicals, LyondellBasell, said it is assessing further ethylene capacity expansion feasibility at its petrochemical plant in Channelview, Texas.
LyondellBasell said it is evaluating a further expansion project at its Channelview facility, which would potentially add up to 550 million pounds-per-year of ethylene capacity.
The proposed expansion project would be in addition to ongoing installation of two large cracking furnaces at the Channelview site that are slated to increase production by 250 million pounds-per- year.
It added that preliminary engineering work is already underway to assess expansion feasibility and if the project does ahead, it is anticipating the expansion to be completed by 2017.
In addition to expansion at Channelview, LyondellBasell which is currently the fifth largest producer of ethylene globally is increasing ethylene capacity at two other Texas plants.
An 800 million pounds-per-year expansion has just been completed in La Porte. And an additional 800 million pounds of capacity are being added at its site in Corpus Christi, which is scheduled for completion in late 2015.
When all three are completed, ethylene capacity at LyondellBasell will reach 1.85 billion pounds per year, which will further rise to 2.4 billion pounds, if the additional expansion project is finalized.
"Our strategy continues to be cost-effective expansion of existing facilities to take advantage of abundant supplies of low cost natural gas and ethane from shale production," Tim Roberts, VP at Olefins & Polyolefins (Americas) said.
"The additional ethylene capacity we are already adding at our three Texas plants through existing expansion projects is the equivalent of constructing a new stand-alone cracking unit", he added. (AR)
