Fort Beeler Cryogenic Plant in Marshall County for “Wet-Gas” Being Expanded

by Duane Nichols on July 31, 2011

Caiman Energy will be able to process 520 million cubic feet of natural gas per day at its Fort Beeler facility by next summer, as the company invests $500 million in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia, according to the Wheeling Intelligencer.  

The Fort Beeler cryogenic plant, near Cameron along U.S. 250 in Marshall County, now processes about 120 million cubic feet of gas per day, some from the near-by Whipkey pad of TransEnergy. By the end of this year, an additional 200 million cubic feet per day of processing capacity is expected. Then an additional 200 million more by next summer is planned, bringing the total capacity to 520 million cubic feet per day. Also, construction of Caiman’s pipeline network is ongoing, with much of the system set for completion by the end of this year.

Much of the Northern Panhandle Marcellus gas is of the “wet” variety containing ethane, propane and butane in addition to methane. Caiman’s 25-mile pipeline – designed to carry these natural gas liquids from the Fort Beeler site to its fractionation facility on the Ohio River – is also scheduled for completion this year.

The fractionation facility is currently under construction, just north of the Marshall-Wetzel county line on the Ohio River. This plant will separate the ethane, butane and propane from each other so they can be marketed. Once the pipelines and processing facilities are finished, Caiman’s total investment in Marshall and Wetzel counties will be more than $500 million.

Caiman and NOVA Chemicals signed an agreement on March 8th for the supply of 20,000 barrels per day of ethane on a long-term basis from the Fort Beeler Plant to feed the Corunna cracker plant, for the Sarnia, Ontario (Canada), petrochemical market. This arrangement is subject to NOVA Chemicals finalizing a pipeline transportation agreement to transport ethane from Fort Beeler into Ontario.

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Duane G. Nichols August 1, 2011 at 3:29 pm

West Virginia wants a cracker, so says a blog at the Charleston Daily Mail. Acting governor Tomblin has arranged for WV Route 2 to be relocated in Marshall county if a cracker is sited on the Bayer property there.

Also, as reported on Fuel Fix: Chemical Week reported on July 29th that Formosa Plastics is planning to build a $1.5 billion chemical cracker plant at its Point Comfort (Texas) complex, to take advantage of the abundant natural gas available from the shale formation in South Texas. Chairman Li Chih-tsun said that this ethylene plant would be completed in 2015.

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