The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed two large petrochemical projects planned for the US. Daelim Chemical has pulled out of an ethylene cracker project in Ohio that it had been developing with the Thai firm PTT Global Chemical.
PTT says the project continues to be a top priority and that it will seek a new partner while working toward a final investment decision late this year or early next year. PTT acknowledges that the combination of the pandemic and oil price volatility have delayed the timeline for developing the plant by 6–9 months. PTT has been pursuing the project since at least 2015, when its partner was the Japanese trading firm Marubeni.
Meanwhile, Chevron Phillips Chemical cites the pandemic for delaying a final investment decision on an $8 billion petrochemical facility it is considering building on the US Gulf Coast with Qatar Petroleum. The firms had intended to make the call on the plant next year. Chevron Phillips says it continues front-end engineering design.
By: Michael McCoy
Source: C&EN
At the beginning of May, construction started on Greensand’s Carbon Dioxide transit terminal at Port Esbjerg in Denmark. Once operational, the terminal will be a critical component in what is expected to become the EU’s first CO₂ storage facility aimed at mitigating climate change.
Representatives for Masdar and OMV signed in Vienna a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) to collaborate on future opportunities in Austria, the UAE and in Central and Northern Europe. Both companies aim to explore potential avenues to develop and produce synthetic sustainable aviation fuel, other synthetic fuels and synthetic chemicals.
Finnish chemical company Kemira announces that its CFO, Petri Castrén, will leave his role by the end of the first quarter of 2026. The recruitment of a new CFO will begin immediately, and Castrén will continue in his current role until he leaves.
