ExxonMobil has announced that a new 1.5 million ton-per-year ethane cracker at its Baytown, Texas complex is mechanically complete with commissioning progressing well. Project start-up is expected during the second quarter of 2018.
This new ethane cracker, part of ExxonMobils multi-billion dollar Baytown chemical expansion project, will provide ethylene feedstock to the new performance polyethylene lines in Mount Belvieu, which began production in the fall of 2017.
With the completion of the project in Baytown, we are on the verge of fully realizing one of ExxonMobils most significant U.S. Gulf Coast investments, said John Verity, president of ExxonMobil Chemical Company. Our new ethane cracker will allow us to economically meet rapidly growing demand for high-performance polyethylene products around the world while continuing to sustain economic development and create jobs for decades to come.
The Baytown chemical expansion project is a key component of ExxonMobils previously announced Growing the Gulf initiative. In addition to the ethane cracker in Baytown, ExxonMobil and SABIC are proposing to build a jointly owned petrochemical complex in San Patricio County, Texas, that would include a 1.8 million ton-per-year ethane cracker the largest capacity of any ethane cracker built to date.
Image courtesy of ExxonMobil