Odfjell Terminals has entered into the final phase of engineering ahead of an investment decision on an ethylene export terminal in Seabrook, Texas, a company spokesman said late Monday.
"It is correct that Odfjell Terminals has entered into the FEED [Front-End Engineering Design] phase for a possible ethylene export terminal in Seabrook, Texas," the spokesman said.
Odfjell has already closed a basic engineering contract for the terminal with JGC America, Inc, a subsidiary of Japanese engineering contractor JGC Corporation.
Four new crackers are expected to start up in Texas this year, boosting the US' ethylene capacity. US ethylene production -- which is produced using ethane sourced from the country's abundant shale gas reserves -- is at a cost advantage to Europe and Asia, whose primary ethylene feedstock is naphtha.
In Texas, Occidental/Mexichem's cracker in Ingleside, with a capacity of 550,000 mt/year, is expected to start up in H1, while ExxonMobil's cracker in Baytown with a capacity of 1.5 million mt/year is expected to start up in H2, as are Chevron Phillips Chemical's cracker in Baytown with a capacity of 1.5 million mt/year and Dow Chemical's cracker in Freeport, also with a capacity of 1.5 million mt/year. All the crackers have corresponding PE capacities.
Targa Resources currently operates the only US ethylene export terminal.
In September, Enterprise Products Partners said it could have an ethylene export facility online in Texas in less than 24 months, but it has not yet reached a final decision to move forward with the project.
