LyondellBasell looks to build new polyethylene plant at South Texas site

Petrochemicals major LyondellBasell is hoping to build a new polyethylene (PE) plant at one of its sites in South Texas, according to a news report in the Houston Chronicle.

CEO Bob Patel told the Chronicle that an announcement will likely come later this year on adding more production of PE, the most common type of plastic.

Patel said it could be a combination greenfield-brownfield project at one of the company's sites in metro Houston, but he said that regional sites near Matagorda and Victoria are also possibilities.

Overall, LyondellBasell plans to spend up to $4 billion in capital along the Gulf Coast through 2020, Patel said. The plan is to take advantage of cheaper gas feedstocks available in the US.

Patel spoke at the company's Channelview complex outside Houston, where LyondellBasell is currently in the midst of a $200-million project to add large cracking furnaces to expand ethylene production. That project, which will add 250 million lb/year of capacity, should conclude later this year.

LyondellBasell is also adding 800 million lb/year of capacity at its Corpus Christi plant. That follows a similar addition in 2014 at the company's La Porte site.

Combined, the capacity boost provided by those Texas projects is equal to building a new ethylene plant, Patel said.