P. 2 ~ Continued - Survey shows increase in gas processing, pipeline construction

Page1, 2, 3, 4Next>
View Article as Single page

Petrochemical

Shell has preliminary plans to build a large ethylene plant in the Appalachian region of the US based on ethane from natural gas produced from the Marcellus shale (OGJ Online, June 6, 2011).

The company hasn't identified a site for the plant, which would include production of derivatives yet to be determined. "The leading option is polyethylene," Shell said in a press release. The release described the plans as indefinite and didn't report capacity. But it described the prospective ethane cracker as "world-scale."

ExxonMobil Corp. will delay the start-up of its 1 million tonne/year ethylene cracker on Jurong Island in Singapore into 2012 instead of yearend due to longer-than-expected safety checks needed for its petrochemical projects, a company official said.

In May, Petronas reported plans to construct a $20 billion refinery and petrochemicals complex at Pengerang in southern Johor state that would raise the country's total refining capacity to 935,300 b/d.

The development, to be called Refinery & Petrochemicals Integrated Development, or Rapid, is expected to be commissioned by yearend 2016. The Rapid project, which is still at the detailed feasibility study stage, will comprise a 300,000-b/d refinery, a 3 million tpy naphtha cracker, and a petrochemical and polymer complex.

LNG

In June, Argentina opened its second LNG import terminal (OGJ Online, June 16, 2011). GNL Escobar is a joint development of YPF SA, ENARSA, and Excelerate Energy on the Parana River, about 30 miles outside Buenos Aires City, and employs Excelerate Energy's GasPort design.

The terminal has a baseload throughput capacity of 500 MMcfd, with peak throughput capacity at 600 MMcfd, and has direct access to the Buenos Aires region and Argentina's gas grid.

Also in June, Dunkerque LNG, a subsidiary of Electricite de France SA (EDF), awarded Sener Ingenieria y Sistemas an engineering, procurement, and construction contract to develop a regasification terminal in Dunkerque in northern France (OGJ Online, June 14, 2011).