ExxonMobil, Sabic pick Corpus Christi for massive $10 billion petrochemical plant
Canadian Plastics
MaterialsConstruction will commence on the plant in early 2018, and chemical production could start as early as 2020.
ExxonMobil and Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic) have selected a site in Corpus Christi, Texas for their massive new petrochemical plant joint venture.
Said to be the world’s largest ethane steam cracker plant when completed, the 1,400-acre Corpus Christi plant could cost as much as US$10 billion to construct. A large ethane steam cracker capable of producing 1.8 million tonnes of ethylene per year would feed a monoethylene glycol unit and two polyethylene units.
The original proposal for this complex, first announced in July 2016, considered three other sites: two in Louisiana and one in Victoria, Texas. Exxon and Sabic choose Corpus Christi over Louisiana because of its proximity to productive shale gas fields in South Texas.
Construction will commence on the plant in roughly early 2018, and is expected to create approximately 6,000 construction jobs. Once completed, the plant is expected to employ 600 full-time workers at the facility. The plant could come online as early as 2020.
While Houston-based ExxonMobil and Sabic – which is headquartered in Saudi Arabia – have worked together in Saudi Arabia for 35 years, this will be the companies’ first joint venture in the U.S.
