From a posting by INEOS on INEOS.com, November 20, 2017

>>> INEOS and China’s SP Chemicals long term supply agreement for ethane from US Shale Gas

>>> Agreement includes construction of new carrier ship, the largest ethane carrier ever built

INEOS has today announced a long-term supply agreement with SP Chemicals to deliver ethane from US shale gas to China. The agreement, which will see US ethane from shale gas shipped to China for the first time, will supply SP Chemicals with a long-term competitive supply of ethane for its industrial production.

The deal will involve the construction of a 95,000cbm capacity ship which is expected to be delivered in 2019. Known in the US as a ‘Very Large Ethane Carrier’ or VLEC it will be the largest ethane carrier in the world, and will ship US ethane from shale gas to SP Chemicals’ new gas cracker facility, currently under construction in Taixing China. As with the INEOS Dragon ships, this vessel will be operated by EVERGAS. It will be the first VLEC in their fleet of 23 gas ships. The ship will be built in China under the management of the JACCAR Group.

Ethane is used to make ethylene – one of the world’s most important chemical building blocks. Ethylene is an important raw material used to make products for a wide variety of industrial and consumer markets such as transportation, electronics, textile and construction.

David Thompson, CEO of INEOS Trading and Shipping, said, ”This is another world first for INEOS after importing shale gas to Europe in 2015. By bringing in US ethane from shale gas to China for the first time, we are now leading the way in shipping ethane worldwide to meet the needs of an expanding chemicals sector.We are excited to work with a client such as SP Chemicals and we look forward to delivering this historic project.”

Chan Hian Siang, CEO of SP Chemicals, said, “SP Chemicals is honoured and very happy to work with INEOS, a first-class global company, to ship ethane over a journey of more than 18,900 km across the Pacific Ocean from USA to Taixing City, Jiangsu province, PRC. It has long been a dream for SP Chemicals to integrate upstream. SP Chemicals will commission a gas cracker plant in 2019 to produce 650,000 tons per annum of ethylene. This first long-term supply agreement for ethane with INEOS will be an important milestone for SP Chemicals to achieve self-sufficiency for its ethylene requirements.”

Jacques De Chateauvieux, Chairman of the JACCAR Group, said, “This Contract illustrates JACCAR’s ability to offer a comprehensive solution with type C Tri-lobe VLEC tanks developed by JHW Engineering and Contracting, in co-operation with the Hartmann Group up to the contracting and operating by Evergas. We feel honoured by the trust of INEOS in us in delivering and operating the world’s largest VLEC with type C tanks.”

Steffen Jacobsen, CEO of Evergas, said “We are very pleased to further strengthen our relationship with INEOS co-operating on the seabourne transportation of Ethane from the US to China”.

Source: https://www.ineos.com/news/ineos-to-deliver-the-first-ever-us-ethane-from-shale-gas-to-china-in-2019-using-the-worlds-largest-ethane-carrier/

ENDS. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>………………<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

For further information, please contact: Richard Longden (INEOS), Mr Lim Lye Hin (SP Chemicals), Andrew Christian McPhail (Evergas)

About INEOS
INEOS is a global manufacturer of petrochemicals, speciality chemicals and oil products. It comprises 25 businesses each with a major chemical company heritage. Its production network spans 105 manufacturing facilities in 22 countries throughout the world, employing 18,500 people. INEOS produces the raw materials for a wide variety of goods: from paints to plastics, textiles to technology, medicines to mobile phones.

About SP Chemicals
SP Chemicals is the largest ion-membrane chlor-alkali manufacturer in Jiangsu Province, and the fourth largest in the PRC, with annual revenues of more than RMB6 billion. SP Chemicals currently employs more than 1,200 employees. SP Chemicals manufactures chlor-alkali products and related downstream products, with annual production capacities of 750,000 tons per annum (“tpa”) for caustic soda, 660,000 tpa for chlorine, 135,000 tpa for aniline, 500,000 tpa for VCM, and 320,000 tpa for styrene monomer. SP Chemicals sells mostly to customers who are based in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shandong provinces, as well as Shanghai. SP Chemicals also exports its products to the USA, Australia, Japan, and Korea. SP Chemicals’ customers include multinational corporations, such as BASF and Akzo Nobel, and PRC state-owned and private enterprises, in a diverse range of industries – such as petrochemicals, textiles, paper, consumer goods, plastic polymers, rubber, dye, and pharmaceuticals.

About JACCAR Group
JACCAR is a maritime conglomerate operating more than 500 vessels and led by Jacques de Chateauvieux. The group controls Bourbon, a world leader in the offshore service sector. The group has invested heavily in vessel construction in China and have taken delivery of over 250 vessels from our own yard. Primary focus of the group is within the oil & gas industry.

About EVERGAS
Evergas is a leading first class operator within the transportation of liquefied gas, ensuring safe and flexible operations for its range of customers. Its modern and effective fleet is represented within the carriage of LNG, ethane, LPG and petrochemical gases such as ethylene, propylene, butadiene and VCM. Evergas currently transports ethane for INEOS from US to Europe on 8 advanced multi-gas carriers.

From an Update by Jeremiah Shelor, Natural Gas Intelligence, June 19, 2018

U.S. natural gas liquids (NGL) production from plants set a record in 2017, averaging 3.7 million b/d and has nearly doubled since 2010, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in a research note Tuesday.

The growth in NGL output has accompanied a rise in marketed gas production driven by unconventional development, particularly from the Appalachian Basin and also from of associated gas from crude-focused plays, EIA noted.

As capacity to produce, transport and consume related products has increased, NGLs have made up a larger share of total marketed production since 2010, when it was 11%, to 15% in 2017 in energy content terms.

Increases in NGL plant production “pushed two measures of total natural gas production — gross withdrawals and marketed production — to record highs in 2017,” EIA said.

The output of from NGL plants that include ethane, propane, isobutane/normal butane and natural gasoline has fluctuated with commodity prices over the years, especially ethane, as operators determine whether to leave it in the gas stream based on economics, EIA said.

Ethane rejection because of low prices drove down ethane’s share of U.S. liquids output from 2012-2015, before demand and prices increased after two U.S. export terminals opened in 2016, followed by two domestic petrochemical plants opening in 2017, according to EIA.

U.S. NGL plant production increased on average every year by “nearly 400,000 b/d between 2015 and 2017, and about 175,000 b/d of this increase resulted from growth in ethane production,” EIA wrote.

The recent growth in ethane output is poised to continue, according to the agency.

“Several more petrochemical plants are expected to come online in the United States in 2018 and 2019, further driving increases in ethane demand and prices,” EIA said. “First quarter 2018 ethane production was 260,000 b/d higher than the first quarter 2017 level. Ethane production will increase by another 440,000 b/d between the first quarter of 2018 and the fourth quarter of 2019,” representing 86% of growth in NGL plant output, based on data from EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook.

EIA has previously noted the critical role processing and fractionation capacity has played in pacing gas production growth from the Marcellus and Utica shales. The expectations for higher NGL output come as Sunoco Pipeline LP’s Mariner East projects, offering a critical takeaway path for Appalachian ethane, butane and propane to reach the Marcus Industrial Complex near Philadelphia, have faced significant pushback and regulatory scrutiny. Speakers at an industry conference near Pittsburgh recently pointed to a need for underground NGL storage in Appalachia.

Meanwhile, an executive with Shell Chemical Appalachia LLC said the multi-billion dollar ethane cracker planned in western Pennsylvania remains on track, with nearly all of the foundations completed for the 200 structures that will form the self-contained site and major equipment arriving regularly.

Source: http://www.naturalgasintel.com/articles/114775-us-ngl-plant-output-set-record-in-2017-and-more-growth-to-come-eia-says