Free Republic

Capitalizing on abundant supplies of cheap natural gas liquids unlocked in the U.S. shale boom, LyondellBasell plans to build a chemical plant on the Texas Gulf Coast, the company announced Monday. With the capacity to produce 900 million pounds of propylene oxide and 2 billion pounds of tertiary butyl alcohol each year, the plant will be the largest of its kind for the Houston-based plastics, chemicals and refining giant, spokesman George Smalley said. The company operates several such plants in the Houston area. LyondellBasell did not disclose how much the plant will cost, but projects of similar size cost more...

Valero Energy Corp. plans to become a major player in the production of petrochemicals by building a $700 million methanol plant at its St. Charles refinery near New Orleans, a spokesman said Thursday. Valero will take advantage of low-cost natural gas from shale formations such as the Eagle Ford to produce methanol, used to make a range of products such as plastics, textiles, solvents and paint. Natural gas is used in the production of methanol. The time is ripe for expansion into petrochemicals because the market for them is growing faster than the fuels market, Valero spokesman Bill Day said....