admina plant that would use low-cost natural gas to make ethylene and related chemicals in Louisana.
A feasibility study on building an ethane-fed ethylene plant, known as a cracker, at a company site in Lake Charles will be completed by June 2013, Johannesburg-based Sasol said yesterday in a statement. The cost of building plants that produce one million to 1,4 million metric tonnes of ethylene a year plus derivatives will be US$3,5 billion to US$4,5 billion, Sasol said. Sasol joins Dow Chemicals Co, Chevron Phillips Chemical Co and Royal Dutch Shell Plc, among others, who are studying whether to build ethane crackers in the US where the price of gas relative fell to a record low last month. The new crackers, the first to be built in the US since 2001, are poised to be the country’s largest wave of new capacity.
“Strategic growth in chemicals will take full advantage of the natural-gas opportunities along the US Gulf coast,” chief executive David Constable said in a separate statement.
“The anticipated growth will strengthen Sasol’s overall portfolio.”
Ethane is a component of gas used to make ethylene, the most produced petrochemical and an industry bellwether.
New drilling methods are opening up shale formations from Texas to West, reducing the cost of gas and making the US the lowest-cost ethylene producer outside the Middle East. – Bloomberg.
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- July 31, 2026
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