LyondellBasell to delay completion of US PO/TBA plant to Q3 ’22

HOUSTON (ICIS)–LyondellBasell is delaying to Q3 2022 the completion of a plant it is building in Texas that will make propylene oxide and tertiary butyl alcohol (PO/TBA), the CEO said on Friday.

“We essentially delayed the project by one year,” said Bob Patel, CEO. He made his comments during an earnings conference call. The company is still updating capital forecasts for the projects.

At the end of March, LyondellBasell said it was slowing down construction at the plant because of the coronavirus. At the time, many companies were suspending projects to prevent construction workers from catching and spreading the disease.

The $2.4bn PO/TBA project began in August 2018.

The PO/TBA plant is being built at LyondellBasell’s complex in Channelview. Once finished, the plant will produce  2.2bn lb/year (1m tonnes/year) of TBA and 1bn lb/year of PO.

About $640m of the $2.4bn project will expand the company’s complex in Bayport, Texas. The new capacity will convert TBA into mainly ethyl tertiary butyl ether (ETBE), although it will have the flexibility to produce methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) as well. Most of these ethers will be exported to Latin America and other markets.

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