Shell advances plans for $1.2 bn MEG plant in Louisiana

MEG is a key ingredient in manufacturing textiles, paints, paper, resins, coolants and adhesives. 

A decision to proceed with the project could come from Royal Dutch Shell in 2020, Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards and Shell Chemicals vice president for Gulf Coast Manufacturing Rhoman Hardy said in a press statement.

Louisiana Economic Development (LED) estimates the project also would result in 112 new indirect jobs, for a total of 135 new jobs in the state’s Capital Region. Shell would retain 575 existing jobs at the Geismar site, with the project supporting 3,700 company jobs statewide. In addition to the retained jobs and new jobs, the project would generate more than 1,000 construction jobs.

“Shell Chemical LP has a more than 50-year history of investment at Geismar that has provided high-quality jobs for decades, and made the site a world-class manufacturing facility,” governor Edwards said. “The successful completion of the company’s recent alpha olefins project, combined with this potential expansion, demonstrates to the world that Shell has confidence in Louisiana and recognises our state’s tremendous physical attributes and our outstanding workforce. Louisiana looks forward to working with Shell Chemical LP to make this investment happen.”     

“We at Shell are proud of our long history in Louisiana, and I’m very excited about the positive potential of this project for Shell and for the state,” Hardy said. “We look forward to working with governor Edwards and LED as we move toward a final decision.”

After a 1965 groundbreaking in Ascension Parish, Shell began operating the Geismar chemicals plant in 1967 and completed other major expansions in 1995 and 2002. In December 2018, Shell completed a $717 million expansion that increased its linear alpha olefins capacity by 425,000 tons to a total of 1.3 million tons per year. That volume ranks the Geismar plant as the largest single-site manufacturer of alpha olefins in the world. (RKS)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India