Nova Chemicals announces plans for multiple projects in Sarnia region

Nova Chemicals Corporation has spelled out some of its plans to move ahead with the second phase of its “Nova 2020” growth strategy in Ontario.

According to a Dec. 18 company statement, the next phase of the Nova 2020 growth strategy, anticipated to take place over the 2014 to 2018 timeframe, will concentrate on “several cost-effective expansions and upgrades to Nova Chemicals’ existing facilities in the Sarnia, Ont. region.” These include expanding the Corunna, Ont. cracker ethylene manufacturing capacity by approximately 20 per cent; pursuing a debottleneck at the Moore, Ont. low-density polyethylene (PE) line; and pursuing a retrofit of the Moore high-density PE line.

“These projects are intended to build on the impact of the Corunna cracker conversion to utilize up to 100 per cent natural gas liquids to enhance Nova Chemicals’ capabilities to meet growing and more sophisticated customer demands,” the statement said.

According to Calgary-based Nova, work also continues to progress on other projects within the first phase of the Nova 2020 portfolio, including revamping the Corunna cracker facility to utilize cost-competitive natural gas liquid feedstocks with project completion targeted for Q1 2014; the continued accumulation of ethane from the Marcellus Shale Basin in local Sarnia storage for introduction as a Corunna feedstock; and building a gas-phase PE reactor at the company’s Joffre, Alta. facility, to provide customers with a complete set of LLDPE offerings by Q1 2016.

The cracker and PE projects could cost more than $300 million, Nova said.

The statement also said that Nova will continue to evaluate options for a second Advanced SCLAIRTECH  technology (AST) facility. The facility “could be located in Ontario, the U.S. Gulf Coast or elsewhere in the world, and would be implemented in the final phase of the Nova 2020 growth strategy,” the company said.

“We are excited to move forward with the next phase of growth for our Eastern Canadian olefins and PE assets, building on the imminent completion of our Corunna feedstock conversion project,” said Nova CEO Randy Woelfel. “We believe phasing of implementation of the Nova 2020 projects is the optimal path forward to maintain Nova Chemicals’ financial strength and optionality while recognizing the market challenges for project implementation.”