Thai company confirms massive investment for Ohio cracker plant design work
COLUMBUS – Ohio is standing on third base and ready to cross home plate in the development of a proposed $5.7 billion ethane cracker plant in eastern Ohio, Gov. John Kasich said Thursday.
Kasich joined the CEO of the Thai company that wants to build the plant in outlining plans for a $100 million outlay over the next year for engineering and design work at the site to determine the project’s future.
“Columbus Business First” broke the story in April that the plant was being considered in Belmont County, near the heart of oil and natural gas exploration in the Utica shale field. The processing plant would take ethane, a component of natural gas, and “crack” it into etheyene, which is used in the petrochemical industry.
“If we didn’t have the work force,” the plant wouldn’t be possible, Kasich said at a Statehouse gathering.
Petrochemical complexes, such as crackers, are huge capital investments with long lifespans and they need highly skilled workers, including chemical engineers, chemists and lab techs, to operate them.
PTT Global Chemical Public Company Ltd. CEO Supattanapong Punmeechaow called the $100 million commitment a milestone in the project. The company has signed contracts with two groups of engineering firms led by Bechtel Enterprises Holdings Inc. and Fluor Corp. (NYSE:FLR) for engineering design and cost estimates.
Read the full article in its entirety at http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/news/2015/09/03/thai-company-confirms-massive-investment-for-ohio.html.
Category: Business
