PTTGC America LLC (PTTGCA), the US subsidiary of Thailand’s PTT Global Chemical (PTTGC), and partner Daelim Chemical USA LLC, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd., has revised the timeline for reaching final investment decision (FID) on the partnership’s (PTTDLM) proposed 1.5 million-tonnes/year ethane cracker and petrochemical complex planned for Mead Township along the Ohio River in Shadyside, Belmont County, Ohio (OGJ Online, Oct. 28, 2015; Apr. 22, 2015).
As a result of prioritizing health and safety of all employees and stakeholders, as well as focusing on business continuity in navigating new challenges amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the partnership now anticipates a timeline of 6-9 months for taking FID on the project, PTTGCA said in a release.
Even among these challenges and despite the current delay, PTTGCA said it is still progressing with the project and at no point has put the project on indefinite hold.
“We continue to be grateful for the support and encouragement we receive from this community and all our local, state, and federal partners,” said Toasaporn Boonyapipat, PTTGCA’s president and chief executive officer.
“While the pandemic has prevented us from moving as quickly as we would like within our previous timeline, our best estimate is for a [FID] by the end of this year or in the first quarter of next year,” Boonyapipat added.
Confirmation of the revised timeline for FID follows PTTDLM’s initial notification of a delayed project FID in April (OGJ Online, Apr. 29, 2020).
With the first phase of site preparation, engineering, and design work for the project completed as of late February, PTTDLM also said in April it was planning to continue investing in safety of the project site’s surrounding neighborhood by demolishing vacant structures.
According to a final air pollution permit-to-install (PTI) issued on Dec. 21, 2018, by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, PTTDLM’s proposed complex—which will be equipped with six ethane-cracking furnaces—will produce ethylene, high-density polyethylene (HDPE), and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) using the following units and capacities:
- Ethylene plant, 1. 5 million tpy.
- HDPE Unit 1, 350,000 tpy.
- HDPE Unit 2, 350,000 tpy.
- LLDPE-HDPE Unit 1, 450,000 tpy.
- LLDPE-HDPE Unit 2, 450,000 tpy.
The proposed multi-billion-dollar complex will also include on-site railcar and truck loading, supporting utilities, infrastructure, storage tanks, logistics facilities, and installations for either production or provision of required natural gas, water, air, nitrogen, steam, and electricity to support operation of process units, according to the PTI.
Daelim officially entered as a partner on the proposed Ohio petrochemical complex in early 2018, according to a series of releases from PTTGCA.
