Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP (The Woodlands, Tex.; www.cpchem.com) announced completion of an ethylene expansion at its Sweeny complex in Old Ocean, Tex. With the addition of a tenth furnace to ethylene unit 33 at the Sweeny complex, the expansion is expected to increase annual production by 200 million pounds. Construction on the expansion began in 2013.
“This represents the next increment of expansion to our ethylene business. We’re building toward the startup of the U.S. Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project in 2017 and supporting incremental growth of our olefins derivative businesses,” said Dave Smith, olefins & natural gas liquids vice president for Chevron Phillips Chemical. Chevron Phillips Chemical’s U.S. Gulf Coast Petrochemicals Project includes the construction of an ethane cracker at the company’s Cedar Bayou plant in Baytown, Tex. and two polyethylene units in Old Ocean, Tex. near the Sweeny complex.
The Sweeny complex is one of the world’s largest single-site ethylene facilities and is now capable of producing roughly 12 million pounds of ethylene per day, or 4.3 billion pounds annually.