Ineos (Rolle, Switzerland; www.ineos.com) has announced that Ineos Oligomers made a Final Investment Decision (FID) to build a new world-scale linear alpha-olefin (LAO) unit at the Ineos site at Chocolate Bayou, Tex. The LAO unit capacity will be 420,000 metric tons per year (m.t./yr), 20% larger than when the project was originally announced. The new unit represents a major step forward in the ambitious growth plans for the LAO business, complementing existing units in Joffre, Alberta, Canada and Feluy, Belgium respectively. Once the unit comes onstream in November, 2018 the global LAO production capacity of Ineos Oligomers will reach approximately one million m.t./yr.
“The new unit will be based on our own proprietary and differentiated INEOS Oligomers “broad-based” LAO technology. Therefore, the plant’s product distribution and product specifications will be very familiar to our customers. In addition, the unit will also include process technology improvements that will also reduce our variable costs” stated Joe Walton, INEOS Oligomers Business Director. “We continue to believe our market and technology focus, combined with our access to USGC ethylene economics, make this a very attractive opportunity. Hence, our ultimate decision to build a unit larger than the 350,000 m.t./yr originally envisioned and fully exploit available economies of scale,” he added.