Reliance Industries to import US ethane to feed its crackers in India

摘要

Reliance Industries (Mumbai) told the Bombay Stock Exchange today that it is to source 1.5 million m.t./year of ethane from the United States to feed its crackers in India. The company has executed storage and capacity agreements for liquefaction and export of ethane with a North American terminal, which is expected to commence operations in the second half of 2016. "The shale gas industry in North America has grown exponentially in the past five years. As a result, ethane has become the dominant feedstock for crackers replacing liquids. Reliance's investments in shale gas and its existing crackers portfolio in India are a natural fit for sourcing ethane from North America and shipping it to India to attain long-term feedstock competitiveness," the company said in the statement. Reliance will be upgrading the crackers to maximize cracking of ethane, to have maximum operational flexibility and capability to optimize feedstocks with complete control of the supply chain, the company says.