More than four years after picking the site, Royal Dutch Shell recently confirmed it will go ahead with its multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
The decision spells good news for shale drillers challenged by low prices, for steel manufacturing and for 6000 workers Shell will employ during construction. Shell said construction will begin within 18 months and wrap up “early in the next decade” on the first major ethane cracker to be built outside the Gulf Coast in 20 years. It eventually will employ 600 people.
Potential contractors also expect to see benefits. Downtown-based specialty steel producer Allegheny Technologies Inc. said the cracker project could benefit the company’s Flat Rolled Products business, which makes stainless steel and titanium alloys for pipes used in the energy industry.