Eastern Ohio hasn’t yet received official confirmation that it will be home to the region’s next ethane cracker plant, but the two companies behind the potential development announced Monday that their plans are getting bigger and better than initially reported.
Thailand-based PTT Global Chemical for years has been studying the feasibility of building a cracker plant in Belmont County, Ohio, which is about 75 miles southwest of Beaver County.
In the latest development, PTT Global Chemical announced it had partnered with a South Korean company on the potential cracker. As a result, the price tag for the potential cracker has increased from $5 billion to up to $10 billion, and the expected output of the plant has increased from 1 million to 1.5 million metric tons per year.
The announcement made Monday, which included representatives from both companies as well as Ohio Gov. John Kasich, wasn’t the final investment decision many are waiting for from the project. Despite that, Kasich said the cracker plant development becoming a reality is “right within our grasp,” and the announcement is seen as yet another positive step in the process.
Mark Thomas, the chairman of Belmont County’s board of commissioners, said Tuesday that the partnership between PTT Global and the South Korean company, Dialem, “breaths new progress into the future of this cracker plant.”
“We are elated that they are committing to a plant that could be 50 percent larger than initially planned,” he said. “In speaking directly to the CEO of PTT, I remain very optimistic that the companies are fully committed to this project and will have a final investment decision sometime in 2018. We appreciate their continued due diligence and will continue to help them in any way we can."
Using similar language employed by Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf when Shell Chemicals decided to build a $6 billion ethane cracker plant in Potter Township, Kasich called the potential project a “game changer, not only for eastern Ohio, but for the entire state …”
"It's great to see these two world-class companies coming together to develop an exciting 21st-century industry that will dramatically transform Ohio," he said.
While PTT Global has already purchased nearly 200 acres for the development, it was also announced Monday that the two companies will purchase an additional 300-acre parcel in April. All told, the companies will then own all of the 500 acres needed to build the potential cracker.
A final investment decision for the project is expected by the end of the year.