Ascension and St. James parishes are in the running for a “world-scale” petrochemical complex thatExxonMobil Chemical Co. and the Saudi Basic Industries Corp. are considering building in either Louisiana or Texas.
An ExxonMobil spokeswoman said the company is working with state and local governments to identify a site. The company has met with officials from Ascension and St. James parishes, as well as leaders from Victoria and San Patricio counties in Texas. Victoria is within two hours’ drive of Corpus Christi, Houston and Austin. San Patricio is near Corpus Christi.
“This investment being considered would have a transformational economic impact for the region and entire state of Louisiana,” said Adam Knapp, president and CEO of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber.
Knapp said the facility would be a “generational opportunity” that would further fortify the strength of the south Louisiana petrochemical industry globally.
ExxonMobil Chemical and SABIC have worked together for 35 years in major chemical joint ventures in Saudi Arabia.
If developed, the Gulf Coast joint venture project would be located near natural gas sources as a feedstock and include a world-scale steam cracker and derivative units. No price tag or timeline were disclosed by the companies.
Both companies are early in the process of conducting studies and obtaining necessary permits, so it’s too early to speculate on when a decision will be reached on building the plant, said Margaret Ross, a spokeswoman for ExxonMobil Chemical.
“We have the capability to design a project with a unique set of attributes that would make it competitive globally,” said Neil Chapman, president of ExxonMobil Chemical. “That is vitally important as most of the chemical demand growth in the next several decades is anticipated to come from developing economies.”
SABIC is based in Saudi Arabia and ranks among the world’s top petrochemical companies and producer of polyethylene, polypropylene, advanced thermoplastics, glycols, methanol and fertilizers. The company operates in more than 50 countries across the world with 40,000 employees.
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