Thai company confirms massive investment for Ohio cracker plant design work

Columbus Business First ^ | Sep 3, 2015 | Laura Newpoff

[thackney]

Ohio is standing on third base and ready to cross home plate in the development of a proposed $5.7 billion ethane cracker plant in eastern Ohio, Gov. John Kasich said Thursday.

Kasich joined the CEO of the Thai company that wants to build the plant in outlining plans for a $100 million outlay over the next year for engineering and design work at the site to determine the project's future.

Columbus Business First broke the story in April that the plant was being considered in Belmont County, near the heart of oil and natural gas exploration in the Utica shale field. The processing plant would take ethane, a component of natural gas, and "crack" it into etheyene, which is used in the petrochemical industry.

“If we didn’t have the work force,” the plant wouldn’t be possible, Kasich said at a Statehouse gathering.

Petrochemical complexes, such as crackers, are huge capital investments with long lifespans and they need highly skilled workers, including chemical engineers, chemists and lab techs, to operate them.

PTT Global Chemical Public Company Ltd. CEO Supattanapong Punmeechaow called the $100 million commitment a milestone in the project. The company has signed contracts with two groups of engineering firms led by Bechtel Enterprises Holdings Inc. and Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR) for engineering design and cost estimates.

Punmeechaow noted, too, the availability of skilled labor in Ohio as a factor in the company’s decision making. He expects to know whether the project is realistic by the end of 2016.

Kasich, said the $100 million is “a significant investment to get to the next milestone.” The plant would take more than four years to build, he said.

Economic development group JobsOhio has been a big driver of the initiative. President John Minor said the plant represents the largest capital project in the group’s pipeline and would result in hundreds of direct and thousands of indirect jobs, including those needed to construct the facility.

If built, the petrochemical facility would take over land occupied by an aged coal-fired plant owned by FirstEnergy Corp.(NYSE:FE).

[thackney]

Cracking is removing atoms or molecules from the large molecule. It is not just the carbon bonds.

Ethane cracker is an industry standard term for the units used to make ethylene. Same for those cracking Propane into Propylene.

[Constitution Day]

I know! I couldn’t believe no one had posted it. :)

[Mikey_1962]

Thanks