PE plant to be built in Nova Scotia

The long-rumored construction of a petrochemical plant in Nova Scotia will soon become a reality, according to report recently published in the Financial Post. Plans call for a group of investors, led by Halifax-based Keltic Petrochemicals Inc., to build a $2 billion complex in Goldboro, NS near the Maritime pipeline carrying natural gas from the Sable Island offshore project. This pipeline route will also eventually carry natural gas from another offshore project, Deep Panuke, scheduled to come on-line in 2005. The two offshore fields combined are expected to produce about 900 million cubic feet a day of natural gas when fully operational. The petrochemical plant, which is preliminarily scheduled for completion in 2006, will use the natural gas as a feedstock to generate ethylene and polyethylene in the range of 500,000 tonnes of each commodity a year. While plans are yet to be completely finalized, sources say that barring any glitches they hope to launch the project by May.