ExxonMobil/SABIC eye ’22 start-up for new US complex in Texas

HOUSTON (ICIS)–A joint venture made up of ExxonMobil and SABIC expects its new petrochemical complex in Texas will start up by 2022, they said on Thursday.

In announcing the start-up date, the companies said they decided to proceed with the project.

The 50:50 joint venture, called Gulf Coast Growth Ventures, is building the complex in San Patricio County in Texas, it said. The complex will include a 1.8m tonne/year ethane cracker, two polyethylene (PE) units and a monoethylene glycol (MEG) plant. ExxonMobil will be the operator of the site.

The cracker will be the world’s largest, the companies said.

Construction should start in the third quarter of 2019, the companies said. It will be led by four primary engineering, procurement and construction companies. These are The Wood Group, McDermott & Turner Industries Group, Chiyoda & Kiewit and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries & Zachry Group.

The companies have already secured all regulatory approvals necessary to move forward.

“Building the world’s largest steam cracker, with state-of-the-art technology, on the doorstep of rapidly growing Permian production gives this project significant scale and feedstock advantages,” said Darren Woods, ExxonMobil CEO. “It is one of several key projects that provide the foundation for significantly increasing the company’s earnings potential.”

The joint venture marks the third one between the two companies and the first outside of Saudi Arabia, said SABIC vice chairman and CEO, Yousef Al-Benyan.”With this project, we look forward to further building our business presence in the US and serving the communities and customers in the North and South American markets even more effectively.”

Additional reporting by Tom Brown

Image above shows PE, one of the products that will be produced at the ExxonMobil/SABIC complex in Texas. Photo by Al Greenwood

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