- Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) (RDS.A, RDS.B) has completed a milestone in the construction of its plastics production complex in Pennsylvania, a 285-ft. cooling and condensation tower for gas and other hydrocarbons - the project's largest piece of equipment - the Houston Chronicle reports.
- Shell is building an ethane cracker, which will be the feedstock for on-site production of polyethylene, and three units will churn out 1.6M metric tons/year of polyethylene to be sold as tiny plastic pellets for use in packaging, automobiles, furniture and consumer goods.
- IHS Markit says Shell’s multibillion-dollar project - the largest of its kind in the U.S. northeast - could be the first of several in the region as petrochemicals producers look to capitalize on rich, low-cost ethane from the Marcellus and the Utica, which together are expected to account for 40% of U.S. natural gas production by 2030.
- But IHS Markit also warns the developments will occur only if companies, legislators and regulators in the region take steps to increase the number of large sites zoned for industrial activity and speed up a buildout of pipelines and storage for natural gas liquids; LyondellBasell (NYSE:LYB) has says it has not yet cosndiered building a project in the northeast because of those constraints.
- Now read: Top 10 Of 18 Energy 'Safer' Dividend WallStars Deliver 15.5-92.4% October Target Gains
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