Total Petrochemicals & Refining to begin front-end engineering and design work for a second integrated steam cracker at its Port Arthur, Texas, complexTotal Petrochemicals & Refining will begin front-end engineering and design work for a second integrated steam cracker at its Port Arthur, Texas, complex. Capitalizing on the shale gas revolution during which gas prices have plunged 66%, the company is investing to access feedstock and low-cost energy.

Total Petrochemicals USA is 40% owner of one of the largest steam crackers in Port Arthur, located next to its 174,000 b/d refinery. BASF holds the remaining 60% ownership of the existing 10-furnace steam cracker, which is capable of producing more than 1 million mt/year of ethylene.

The planned ethane cracker would have an ethylene capacity of 1 million mt/year with an expected startup in 2019. A final investment decision will be made in 2016.