Shell Oil recently announced a land-option agreement with Horsehead Corporation to evaluate a Beaver County site for a potential petrochemical complex, including an ethane cracker facility, according to a news release issued by Pa. Gov. Tom Corbett’s office.
Corbett said in the release that the Shell plant, if constructed, has the potential to be “the single largest industrial investment in the region in at least a generation.”
A study by the American Chemistry Council estimated that more than 10,000 new permanent jobs would be created as a result of the facility locating to the region and Shell expects 10,000 construction jobs will result from site development.
The next steps include additional environmental analysis of the site, further engineering design studies, assessment of the local ethane supply, and evaluation of the economic viability.
The potential complex includes an ethane cracker which would process ethane from
Marcellus natural gas to produce ethylene, a building block for petrochemicals. Ethylene is then used for a number of chemical derivatives that are
used in the production of various products, including food packaging, bottles, house
siding, pipes, carpets, tires, footwear, detergent and adhesives.
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