LAKE
CHARLES, La. -- South African-based
energy and chemicals company, Sasol, says it will proceed with front-end
engineering and design (FEED) phase for an integrated, 96,000 bbl/d
gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility and a world-scale ethane cracker with downstream
derivatives, at its Lake Charles site in southwest Louisiana.
At
a media conference with Louisiana Governor, Bobby Jindal, Sasol’s CEO, David
Constable, said there is significant opportunity to benefit from abundant gas
reserves in the U.S. by leveraging Sasol’s GTL experience and technology.
Sasol’s GTL process diversifies the use of natural gas through the production
of liquid fuels and chemicals.
“By incorporating GTL technology into the
USA’s energy mix, states such as Louisiana will be able to advance the
country’s energy independence, through a diversification of supply,” said
Constable.
“This project will be the largest single
manufacturing investment in the history of Louisiana and it also represents one
of the largest foreign direct investment manufacturing projects in the history
of the entire United States,” said Governor Jindal.
The
GTL facility, said to be the first of its kind in the U.S, will produce four
million tons per annum (mtpa), or 96,000 bbl/d of high quality transportation
fuel, including GTL diesel and other value-adding chemical products.
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Current
project costs for the GTL facility are estimated between $11 billion and $14
billion. The GTL project will be delivered in two phases, with each phase
comprising 48,000 bbl/d. The first phase is planned to come into operation in
the 2018 calendar year and the second phase the following calendar year.
The
world-scale ethane cracker, Sasol says, will allow it to expand its ethylene
derivatives business in the U.S. The cracker will also benefit from the current
low U.S. natural gas prices and the abundance of ethane.
Current
cracker project costs are estimated between $5 billion and $7 billion. Sasol
expects beneficial operation to be achieved during the 2017 calendar year. It
will produce an estimated 1.5 mtpa of ethylene with downstream derivative
plants.
The
integrated GTL and ethane cracker projects will, Sasol estimates, together,
create a minimum of 1,200 permanent positions, 7,000 construction jobs at peak
and thousands of indirect jobs both in Louisiana and in the rest of the U.S.