Shell Announces Plans to Build World-Scale ethylene cracker in the Marcellus Shale Play

摘要

Shell Chemicals says it is developing plans to build a world-scale ethylene cracker with integrated derivative units in the Marcellus Shale region in the Northeast. The company joins Dow and Chevron Phillips Chemical (CPChem) in the race to build the next cracker in the U.S., but Shell is the first company to specifically target the Northeast. The cracker will use ethane derived from natural gas produced in the Marcellus shale to produce ethylene. The company says it is evaluating derivative choices, but the leading option is polyethylene (PE), which would be produced for consumption in the Northeast. Demand for PE in North America is expected to grow, so the economic and efficiency benefits of a regional cracker make this configuration attractive, Shell says. "Building an ethane-fed cracker in Appalachia would unlock significant gas production in the Marcellus region by providing a local outlet for the ethane,"says Ben van Beurden, executive v.p./ chemicals at Shell.