Europe Receives First Ever Shipment of US Shale Ethane
The first ever delivery of US shale gas has reached Europe. The delivery, which arrived on March 23 at the Ineos petrochemical plant at Rafnes in Norway and was exported from the Marcellus shale play, was carried on the Ineos-owned gas carrier, Intrepid. It delivered 27,500m3 of ethane to the plant.
Ineos says that the delivery is the culmination of a $2bn investment and five-year project by the company and marked an important day for both the company and for Europe.
"This is a strategically important day for Ineos and Europe," chairman and founder of Ineos Jim Ratcliffe said in a statement. “We know that shale gas economics revitalised US manufacturing and for the first time ever Europe can access this essential energy and raw material source too.”
The company says it will use the delivered ethane in its two gas crackers at Rafnes and Grangemouth in Scotland, both as a fuel and as a feedstock. It expects shipments to Grangemouth to begin later this year.
Ineos has been one of the leading companies in Europe to pursue the import of US shale gas. Besides the delivery to Rafnes and the planned shipments to Grangemouth, the company also expects to import US shale to a third location, the Fife Ethylene Plant at Mossmorran, in Scotland.
In November 2015, it announced that it had signed a long-term agreement with suppliers Shell and ExxonMobil to deliver US shale gas to the Fife Ethylene Plant. Deliveries to that plant are expected to begin in mid-2017.
Erica Mills