Ineos Adds Second Production Unit Ahead of US Shale Delivery
Chemical company Ineos has announced that it is launching a second manufacturing unit at the Grangemouth KG ethylene plant, Scotland, ahead of the autumn delivery of US shale ethane to the site.
The company said in an enthusiastic statement on March 29 that it had completed successful operational trials on the second manufacturing unit (Train 2) of its enormous gas cracker, eight years after it was "mothballed." Grangemouth Operations Director Gordon Milne added that once US shale ethane deliveries begin, all the "parts of the jigsaw" will fall into place for the plant.
"We are now in great shape to receive shale gas from the US and to finally run the Grangemouth plant at full rate" he said. "When US shale gas finally arrives here in the autumn, this plant will move into the premier league of European petrochemical plants."
Ineos will use the imported shale ethane as a supplementary feed for the KG ethylene plant and says that, at a time when North Sea supplies are dwindling, the import will allow the plant to run at increased rates.
The import of US shale and the development of shale gas resources is of increasing value to Ineos. The company has invested heavily in shale, including the acquisition of a 50% interest in seven IGas shale gas licences in the Bowland licences in May 2015. The acquisition made Ineos the third-largest shale gas company in the UK.
On March 23, the company celebrated a momentous occasion for shale in Europe when it announced that it had received delivery of the first ever shipment of US shale ethane to Europe, via its petrochemical plant in Rafnes in Norway. The 27,500m3 of ethane was delivered on Ineos own carrier, Intrepid.
Erica Mills