Now we know why Exxon/SABIC have set their sights on Gregory-Portland. This was published in 2013.
A cluster of multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant projects proposed for the U.S. Gulf Coast are counted on to absorb a glut of ethane and other natural gas liquids from expanding shale gas production.
But some projects may be delayed or blocked by tight air quality restrictions in the Houston-Galveston-Beaumont chemical industry corridor, already burdened by high ozone and other hazardous plant emissions, experts predict.
The brightest scenarios for the shale gas boom all include forecasts for a surge in petrochemicals production and exports based on globally competitive U.S. gas liquids production. Thousand-mile pipeline projects are underway to deliver gas liquids to the center of U.S. petrochemical operations in Texas and Louisiana.
“There are emission regulations around these plants,” cautioned Mark Chung, manager of natural gas liquids analytics at BENTEK Energy. “It could very well limit the number of plants that are built. We don’t know that for certain. It is a risk to the forecast” for petrochemical plant expansion, he said.
The air emissions limits under the federal Clean Air Act, administered by Texas regulators, affect plans for plants that employ heat and pressure to “crack” ethane, propane and other gas liquids into ethylene and related feedstocks used by the plastics industry. The crackers’ furnaces discharge ozone precursors, particulate matter, carbon monoxide and volatile organic chemicals, which are all subject to air quality controls.
Because emissions limits are capped for companies in the region, a firm planning to add a cracker to an existing petrochemicals plant might have to find room for the new emissions under the plant’s existing overall emissions ceiling. Otherwise, it would have to purchase emission reduction credits (ERCs) from companies with leeway under their emissions caps. The credits would offset the new facility’s air pollution releases.
Read the rest on the E&E News website. http://www.eenews.net/stories/1059984658