Enterprise considers second PDH unit, expands Mont Belvieu NGL Capacity; EPC firms rack up billions of awards on energy boom

Our pick of the latest petrochemical news you need to know

Enterprise considers second PDH unit

Enterprise Products is considering a second propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit due to short supply, the chief executive of the US-based midstream company said during its third quarter earnings call on October 31.

PDH units convert propane into propylene.

Enterprise had planned to build a second PDH unit previously. In 2015, the company cancelled the plans.

Enterprise started up its first 750,000 tonne/year PDH unit in Mont Belvieu, Texas in the second quarter of 2018, which operated in excess of nameplate capacity.

The unit was initially slated to start up at the end of 2016, but repeated production issues and damage from Hurricane Harvey caused repeated delays.

Enterprise to expand Mont Belvieu NGL fractionation capacity

Enterprise Products Partners announced plans for an incremental 150,000 barrels/day expansion to its natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation facilities at its Mont Belvieu complex. The expansion would increase Enterprise’s NGL fractionation capacity to 1 million BPD in the Mont Belvieu area, and approximately 1.5 million BPD companywide, once service begins.

This new NGL fractionator is expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2020. Enterprise previously announced plans for a 150,000 NGL fractionator that is under construction and is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2020. The projects are supported by long-term, fee-based contracts.

“The demand for NGL fractionation capacity continues to expand as producers in domestic shale plays like the Permian Basin, the Eagle Ford and DJ Basin seek market access and end users require supply assurance,” said A.J. “Jim” Teague, chief executive officer of Enterprise’s general partner.

“The upstream players in this country have transformed the U.S. into the world’s dominant energy producer, and Enterprise is proud to be contributing to this achievement. With the completion of our new fractionators, Enterprise will have essentially doubled its fractionation capacity in response to the shale revolution of the past decade.”

Teague added that the new fractionation units will supply NGL products for the expanding petrochemical industry on the U.S. Gulf Coast as well as growing global demand for U.S. NGLs.

EPC firms rack up billions worth of awards from energy boom – Industrial Info

Jacobs Engineering Group, Bechtel Corporation, and KBR Incorporated, are among the leading firms for engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services that have picked up a solid number of contracts in 2018 for projects directly or indirectly related to North America's rapidly growing Oil and Gas and Chemical Processing industries, Industrial Information Resources (Industrial Info) said.

Industrial Info is tracking billions of dollars' worth of projects involving these and other prominent U.S.-based EPC companies, both domestically and internationally.

Bechtel recently announced that it had been selected by South Field Energy LLC to design and build the $1.1 billion South Field Energy Center in Wellsville, Ohio, a natural gas-fired, combined-cycle (NGCC) facility that is expected to generate 1,100 megawatts (MW) from two combustion turbines and two steam turbines, all provided by General Electric.

Bechtel has received approval to begin construction immediately, according to a press release. Advanced Power closed $1.3 billion in financing for the facility's construction in August.

Earlier this summer, KBR was awarded a reimbursable EPC contract from Methanex Corporation to provide front-end engineering design (FEED) services for its new Geismar 3 methanol unit in Geismar, Louisiana. The 1.8 million tonne/year facility will be located next to two of Methanex's existing methanol units.

KBR said the FEED work is expected to wrap up next summer, with a final investment decision (FID) expected around the same time. If it is approved, KBR will have the opportunity to provide EPC services for the new facility. 

Jacobs Engineering, was recently awarded a contract to perform engineering services for Keyera Corporation's estimated $150 million expansion of its Wapiti Sour Gas Processing Gas Complex near Grande Prairie, Alberta, in Canada's liquids-rich Montney Shale. The second-phase project involves constructing a natural gas processing plant that will double capacity to 300 million standard cubic feet per day. Keyera estimates construction will be completed in mid-2020.

The complex is expected to process 25,000 barrels of field condensate per day following completion of the second phase. Jacobs also built the first phase of the Wapiti complex, which is one of the major facilities in the rapidly developing Montney region.

Fluor Corporation was signed earlier this year as a contractor for Royal Dutch Shell plc's estimated $12 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility near Kitimat, British Columbia. Along with JGC Corporation, Fluor will be responsible for constructing a pair of LNG trains, each with a capacity of 6 million tonnes/year, and a pair of full-containment storage tanks, each with a capacity of 225,000 cubic meters. Earlier in October, the project's owners announced their FID to build the complex.