Page 6 - NorthAmOil Week 24
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NorthAmOil INVESTMENT NorthAmOil
ExxonMobil, SABIC to proceed with petrochemical complex
TEXAS
SUPER-MAJOR ExxonMobil and Saudi Ara- bia’s SABIC announced on June 13 that they have decided to proceed with the construction of a chemical facility and ethane cracker in Texas, north of Corpus Christi. e decision was announced a day a er the project, Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, received permitting approvals from state o cials.
e US$10 billion project includes two poly- ethylene units and a monoethylene glycol unit, as well as the steam cracker, which will be the largest such facility in the world according to the companies, with a capacity of 1.8 million tonnes per year (tpy). However, Dow Chemical is plan- ning to expand its Freeport, Texas cracker from a capacity of 1.5 million tpy currently by 500,000 tpy, which would make this facility larger than the one planned by ExxonMobil and SABIC.
Construction on Gulf Coast Growth Ven- tures will begin in the third quarter of this year, and start-up is anticipated in 2022. e two com- panies are participating in the joint venture on a 50:50 basis, with ExxonMobil as the operator. e facility will make chemicals used in auto- motive coolants, agricultural lm and building, packaging, clothing and construction materials.
ExxonMobil is aiming to use its Permian Basin output as feedstock for the facility, and the project forms part of its Growing the Gulf ini- tiative, which involves building and expanding manufacturing facilities along the Gulf Coast.
“Building the world’s largest steam cracker, with state-of-the-art technology, on the door- step of rapidly growing Permian production gives this project signi cant scale and feedstock advantages,” said ExxonMobil’s chairman and CEO, Darren Woods. “It is one of several key projects that provide the foundation for signi - cantly increasing the company’s earnings poten- tial,” he added.
For SABIC, this will be the third joint venture with ExxonMobil, and the rst to be operated outside of Saudi Arabia. e project falls under SABIC’s growth strategy to build new petro- chemical facilities in important markets, includ- ing the Americas, to address industry demand and meet the company’s 2025 targets.
Project construction will be led by four primary engineering, procurement and con- struction (EPC) companies – Wood Group, McDermott & Turner Industries Group, Chi- yoda & Kiewit and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries & Zachry Group.
e project is anticipated to create over 600 permanent jobs, with an additional 6,000 jobs set to be created during construction. A study conducted by Impact DataSource has estimated that the project will generate over US$22 bil- lion in economic output during construction and US$50 billion in economic bene ts during its rst six years of operation, the joint venture partners noted.
ExxonMobil is aiming to use its Permian Basin output as feedstock for the facility.
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w w w . N E W S B A S E . c o m Week 24 20•June•2019
