LyondellBasell CEO outlines big plant plans

HOUSTON (ICIS)–LyondellBasell’s methanol plant in Channelview, Texas, has nearly paid for itself after resuming operations less than two years ago, CEO Bob Patel said on Tuesday.

He made his comments during the Citi Basic Materials Conference in New York.

LyondellBasell restarted the 780,000 tonne/year plant sometime near the end of 2013 or the start of 2014.

Unlike many US producers, LyondellBasell has relied mostly on increasing capacity at existing plants versus building new ones. This has allowed the company to quickly add new capacity at a relatively low cost.

The next project scheduled for completion is an expansion of the company’s cracker in Corpus Christi, Texas. When completed in the third quarter of 2016, it should add 800m lb/year (360,000 tonnes/year) of capacity, Patel said.

Altogether, debottlenecking projects should give LyondellBasell the equivalent of a new cracker.

While LyondellBasell has concentrated on debottlenecking, it has not ruled out new projects. The company is building a propylene oxide/tertiary butyl alcohol (PO/TBA) plant that should to start up in 2020 in Channelview.

The plant is expected to produce 1.0bn lb/year of PO and 2.0bn lb/year of TBA, the company said.

For LyondellBasell, TBA offers the company another way to benefit from the price gap between oil and natural gas prices, Patel said.

“What we are doing is we are upgrading butane that is derived from US [natural gas liquids], we’re upgrading that into gasoline, which is priced on oil,” Patel said.

LyondellBasell is evaluating two other new plants.

One would be a polyethylene (PE) plant that would have 1bn lb/year of nameplate capacity.

According to an air permit application filed in 2013, LyondellBasell will build the plant at its complex in La Porte, Texas.

The company has not decided on a start-up date.

Also, the company is still reviewing whether it will build another metathesis unit in Channelview, which would produce propylene from ethylene.

The following chart lists the projects that LyondellBasell has completed, is pursuing or is considering.

(Image: LyondellBasell provided this photo from facilities at its Channelview, Texas, .)