Top Chemical Projects In The US

The American Chemical industry is an exciting one to be in. There are more than 13,000 chemical companies in the US producing over 70,000 different products. The US Chemical industry also employs over half a million workers. This goes up to nearly two million if we count indirect employment.

And there are plenty of projects happening across the United States that provide us with the materials and products we need to live our daily lives. If you’re looking for your next job within chemicals, here are 5 Chemical projects happening in the US to look out for.

Westlake Methanol Plant - Lake Charles, Louisiana

Value: 2.5 Billion USD

Owned by Lake Charles Methanol LLC, the Lake Charles Westlake Grassroot Petroleum Coke to Methanol Plant with Carbon Capture project is located at the Port of Lake Charles in Louisiana. This project was initially released in October 2007.

With the construction of a new plant and the installation of a gasification system to process Petroleum Coke, the planned project capacity for the project is 60,000 k cubic ft/day of Hydrogen, 1,000,000 Metric Tonnes/year of Methanol (Methyl Alcohol) and 363,000 Metric T/yr of Sulfuric Acid.

Fluor is the selected EPC for this project. Lake Charles Methanol is currently at financial closing, which had been delayed due to COVID-19. Final approval is expected in August 2021. Equipment RFQs (Requests for Funding) and Subcontractors Bid Documents will then be released as needed from November 2021 onwards whilst construction is estimated to start in February 2022. The completion of the project is predicted for April 2024.

Channelview Ethylene Op1 Unit Debottleneck – Channelview, Texas

Value: 175 Million USD

The Channelview Ethylene Op1 Unit Debottleneck project, owned by LyondellBasell Industries, is a plant expansion project located at the Channelview Olefins Plant in Texas that was initially released in October 2013.

The project capacity is planned to be 550 M Lbs/yr of Ethylene (Ethene). The increase in the capacity of Op1 will be made possible through the installation of a new process gas dryer and heat exchangers, as well as upgrades to process equipment. This includes the upgrade of the distillation and refrigeration system, its supporting equipment, and piping.

LyondellBasell (LYB) is currently at the Economic Evaluation stage of the project, which could potentially be done in two phases. Approval is expected for September 2023. KBR has already completed some initial engineering.

LYB is expecting to start purchasing long-lead equipment and selecting the EPC by January 2023 to complete Detailed Engineering. Once Detailed Engineering is done, LYB will release the remaining Equipment RFQs and Subcontractor Bid Documents. This should be done by May 2024. The project is expected to be completed by December 2025.

Saint James Methanol Unit (M2) Addition (Phase 2) – Saint James, Louisiana

Value: 1 Billion USD

The Saint James Methanol Unit Addition project is owned by YCI Methanol One LLC, a joint venture between Shandong Yuhuang Chemical Group Company Limited, Koch Industries, and Air Liquide E&C Solutions, and is located in Saint James, Louisiana. The initial release of the Phase 2 project was in July 2014 and is part of a 3-phase project.

The planned project capacity is 1,270,000 Metric T/yr of Methanol (Methyl Alcohol).

YCI Methanol One is currently continuing with the Preliminary Design for the Methanol Unit (M2) Addition (Phase 2). This project involves the construction of a second methanol unit with a capacity of 1.4 Million Metric T/yr of methanol.

The new unit is set to make use of Air Liquide’s MegaMethanol technology and will bring the total Methanol capacity of the site up to 3.3MM T/yr.

YCI Methanol One is set to continue with the Review of Issue through to September 2022. Yuhuang Chemical Corporation and Air Liquide with start to release Equipment RFQs and Subcontractor Bid Documents from June 2021. Construction is expected to begin in July 2023 and the completion of Phase 2 is predicted for November 2025.

Pasadena Clear Lake Methanol Unit Addition (Project Green) – Pasadena, Texas

Value: 850 Million USD

The Pasadena Clear Lake Methanol Unit Addition project, owned by Celanese Corporation, is in Pasadena, Texas. It was first released in April 2014. The planned project capacity is 1.3 Million Metric T/yr of Methanol (Methyl Alcohol).

Fairway Methanol, a joint venture between Celanese and Mitsui, is currently performing the Economic Evaluation for the Methanol Unit Addition. Approval is expected by June 2021. Depending on a favourable investment decision, Celanese will choose an EPC to conduct the Detailed Engineering. It will also start releasing Equipment and Subcontractor Bid Documents from August 2021.

Construction is predicted to start in November 2021 and the project is expected to be finished by February 2024.

Texas City Grassroot Methanol Plant Train I – Texas City, Texas

Value: 1 Billion USD

The Texas City Grassroot Methanol Plant Train I project, owned by Sandpiper Chemicals LLC, is located in Texas City, Texas. The Project was initially released in January 2019.

The planned project capacity for it is 907,184 Metric T/yr of Methanol (Methyl Alcohol).

The project is currently at the Project Justification phase. It’s the first of a 2-phase project which is planned to increase the overall methanol capacity of the plant by 2MM T/yr once phase 2 is complete.

FEED is expected to be awarded in September 2021. Once the Final Approval and Completion of Offtake Contracts is done, Sandpiper Chemicals, alongside its chosen EPC, will be set to begin Detailed Engineering by November 2021. The release of Equipment RFQs and Subcontractor Bid Documents will start in August 2022. Construction is set to start in November 2022 and completion is expected for October 2024.

NES Fircroft and supporting the Chemical industry

​We have over 20 years’ experience in the Process and Chemical Manufacturing sector sourcing and managing personnel for a complete range of contract and permanent placements.

Working with global manufacturers of Bulk Chemicals, Speciality Chemicals, Fine chemicals and Oil Refining, our knowledge of process development and project execution with our specialist understanding of regulations such as COMAH regulations and the Seveso III directive help us to find the best candidates for our clients’ projects.

If you have a staffing requirement, get in touch, or search our Chemical jobs to find your next position.