SABIC, ExxonMobil break ground on US...

A joint venture of Saudi Arabian Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC) and ExxonMobil Corp. has started construction of the JV’s Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV) project, a 1.8 million-tonne/year ethane cracking complex in San Patricio County, Tex., near Corpus Christi (OGJ Online, July 25, 2016).

A groundbreaking ceremony for the proposed project took place at the Texas construction site on Sept. 13, SABIC said on official Facebook account.

The ExxonMobil-SABIC JV received final environmental regulatory approval in June to proceed with construction of the GCGV project, which—alongside the ethane steam cracker and two polyethylene units—also will include a 1.1 million-tpy monoethylene glycol unit (OGJ Online, June 13, 2019).

Upon announcing regulatory approval, the JV also confirmed it has let engineering, procurement, and construction contracts for the GCGV project to John Wood Group PLC as well as a consortium of McDermott International Inc. and Turner Industries Group LLC (OGJ Online, Aug. 22, 2019;  June 19, 2019).

Project approval follows ExxonMobil and SABIC’s 2018 formation of the 50-50 GCGV JV—under which ExxonMobil will act as site operator—and the April 2017 selection of the San Patricio County site, which will allow ExxonMobil and SABIC to take advantage of the region’s existing infrastructure to capture competitive pricing for US natural gas feedstock as well as access to rising demand for ethylene-based products in overseas export markets.

Alongside forming part of SABIC’s growth strategy to build petrochemical installations in key markets—including the Americas—to address industry demand and achieve the company’s 2025 strategy, the proposed multibillion GCGV project also is one of the developments included as part of ExxonMobil’s 10-year, $20-billion "Growing the Gulf" expansion initiative announced in early 2017.