A final investment decision on a proposed $6 billion ethane cracker complex in eastern Ohio has been postponed to 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kallanish Energy reports.
That announcement came from PTT Global Chemical America in a May 20 report in The Nation, an English-language newspaper in Bangkok, Thailand.
That report was tracked down by editor Jim Willis of the Marcellus Drilling News, a trade publication in the Appalachian Basin.
That decision had been expected by mid-2020, according to April reports from PTT and partner Daelim Chemical USA, although it was later pushed back to third quarter 2020, according to reports.
The petrochemical complex would be located at Dilles Bottom in Belmont County.
Cracker construction is expected to begin immediately after a final investment decision is announced.
The complex would be completed by late 2025 with commercial operations beginning in early 2026, according to previous timetables.
The cracker would be located on the 500-acre site of an old coal-fired power plant that has been razed.
PTT had first proposed the project in 2015.
The plant, if built, annually produce of 1.5 million tons ethylene and other materials from ethane produced by shale drilling.
The plant would use six ethane cracking furnaces and manufacture ethylene, high-quality polyethylene and linear low-density polyethylene.
PTT Global Chemical America is a subsidiary of PTT Global Chemical, Thailand’s largest integrated petrochemical company.
Royal Dutch Shell is building a similar ethane cracker in Beaver County northwest of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
This post appeared first on Kallanish Energy News.