Paris – Total is entering a partnership with Borealis and Nova to form a joint venture with the aim of building an ethane steam cracker and a new Borstar® polyethylene unit on the US Gulf Coast. Total is expected to hold a 50% interest in the new joint venture.
The joint venture will include: building a new 1 Mt/y ethane steam cracker in Port Arthur, Texas and building a new 625 kt/y Borstar® polyethylene plant on the Bayport site, Texas.
The joint venture is expected to be established in late 2017 and the final investment decision on the Borstar® polyethylene plant will be taken simultaneously.
The USD 1.7B new cracker is scheduled to start up in 2020. The engineering, procurement and construction contract (EPC) of the ethane steam cracker has been awarded by Total to CB&I.
The new cracker will be built alongside Total’s Port Arthur refinery and Total/BASF existing steam cracker. By leveraging synergies with its existing world-class integrated platform in Texas, Total optimized capital expenditure and will deliver one of the most competitive cracker projects in the US.
