Page 6 - aruba-today-20190430

A6 U.S. NEWS
Tuesday 30 april 2019
Ethane storage seen as key to revitalization of Appalachia

for its project.
The first signs of the emer-
gent ethane petrochemi-
cal industry are clearly vis-
ible northwest of Pittsburgh,
near Monaca, Pennsylva-
nia, where thousands of
workers are building an
ethane "cracker" plant for
Royal Dutch Shell capable
of producing 1.6 million
tons (1.45 million metric
tons) of raw plastic annu-
ally. The plant's ethane sup-
ply will come from Shell's
own pipeline system con-
nected to processing facili-
ties in Ohio and Pennsylva-
nia, negating the need for
bulk storage.
Petrochemical plants with-
out those resources will
need ready access to eth-
ane stored underground,
according to experts. That
includes a much anticipat-
ed cracker plant for eth-
ane conversion that a part-
nership between two Asian
companies is considering
building in eastern Ohio's
This April 18, 2019 file photo shows part of a petrochemical plant being built on the banks of the Ohio River in Monaca, Pa., for the
Royal Dutch Shell company. Belmont County. The part-
Associated Press nership between Thailand's
PTT Global Chemical and
By MARK GILLISPIE er storage facility some- fractionaters that sepa- summer. Hooker said initial South Korea's Daelim Indus-
Associated Press where in the tristate region. rate out other natural gas plans call for building a fa- trial has received clean air
CLEVELAND (AP) — Plans Company President and liquids. While most ethane cility capable of storing 1.5 and water permits from the
are underway in Appala- CEO Steven Hedrick said produced today is shipped million barrels of natural gas state but hasn't fully com-
chia to create two under- the creation of a petro- out of the region via pipe- liquids, primarily ethane but mitted to construction, de-
ground facilities to store chemical and plastics in- lines, a portion is "rejected" also propane and butane. spite having already spent
ethane, a byproduct of dustry could lead to billions and winds up in the natural The company will use fresh more than $100 million on
natural gas drilling seen as of dollars in investment and gas stream. water to carve out space in planning, according to
integral to revitalizing a re- tens of thousands of jobs in "Cooking eggs with ethane a salt formation more than partnership spokesman
gion still struggling from the the coming years. in the morning is like cook- 6,500 feet (1,980 meters) Dan Williamson.
loss of industrial and manu- "The people of Appalachia ing eggs with hundred- underground. Industry analysts and back-
facturing jobs decades deserve this opportunity," dollar bills," Hedrick said, Resulting brine water from ers of the two storage hubs
ago. Hedrick said. paraphrasing U.S. Energy construction will be trans- say the availability of eth-
Experts say the availabil- Technological advances in Secretary Rick Perry. "It gets ported across the Ohio ane storage and the deci-
ity of storage facilities will hydraulic fracturing, better the job done, but it doesn't River via pipeline for use at sion whether to build the
help the tristate region of known as fracking, have make sense." an alkaline plant in West plant are intertwined.
eastern Ohio, southwestern helped fuel an oil and gas Industry experts say there is Virginia, Hooker said. "To me, the key is PTT Glob-
Pennsylvania and north- boom in Appalachia and enough potential ethane Appalachia Development al," Hooker said, adding
ern West Virginia attract southwest states like Tex- production in Appalachia's Group is considering sites that he "can't imagine" the
petrochemical plants that as. It has also provided an Utica and Marcellus shale in the region for its Appala- plant operating without
turn ethane into raw plas- abundant supply of ethane fields to supply four or five chia Storage Hub and Trad- ethane storage. He said
tic and, the hope is, attract that is driving the expansion petrochemical plants in the ing Facility, which Hedrick he's had conversations with
manufacturing companies of the petrochemical in- region. They also say under- said would be capable of PTT-Daelim.
to make products ubiqui- dustry in its epicenter along ground storage is vital to storing 10 million barrels of Appalachia Development
tous to modern life. the Gulf Coast of Texas and providing an uninterrupted natural gas liquids. Group's Hedrick agrees
Energy Storage Ventures Louisiana, where most eth- supply to those plants. Hooker said the cost of his with Hooker's assessment.
is awaiting approval of ane storage also is located. "When you look at the eth- project is estimated at $150 Without the PTT-Daelim
state permits to construct Ethane is a gas when ane market that is devel- million and is fully financed. partnership or another
an underground facility brought to the surface oping, I just can't imagine The estimated cost of the regional petrochemical
to store ethane and other along with methane, the far those plants operating Appalachia Development plant, Hedrick said his stor-
natural gas liquids, said Da- more abundant "dry" natu- without storage in that mar- Group's storage facility is age facility project prob-
vid Hooker, the Colorado- ral gas used to cook our ket," Energy Storage Ven- $3.4 billion, which Hedrick ably won't be viable.
based company's presi- food and heat our homes. tures' David Hooker said. attributes to aboveground "The two go hand in glove,"
dent. Ethane is colorless, odorless Energy Storage Ventures' expenses, such as building Hedrick said. "We need
Meanwhile, Appalachia and, like methane, highly subsidiary, Mountaineer pipelines. both at the same time.
Development Group in combustible. It becomes a NGL Storage, hopes to be- Appalachia Development Without customers, it's aw-
Charleston, West Virginia, liquid when super-cooled gin construction along the Group is seeking $1.9 billion fully hard to make a busi-
wants to build a much larg- at processing plants called Ohio River as early as this in federal loan guarantees ness case."q