Dive Brief:
- Shell Chemicals has advanced plans for a $1.2 billion expansion at its manufacturing facility in Geismar, Louisiana, according to Louisiana Economic Development, and could decide to approve construction as early as next year.
- The expansion would add a monoethylene glycol plant to the 841-acre site, which the company has operated since 1967. It invested $717 million to open its fourth alpha olefins unit there late last year.
- LED and Shell Chemical will complete negotiations on an incentive package for the project prior to the final investment decision, according to WAFB9. The plan has already been approved for property tax abatement under Louisiana's Industrial Tax Exemption Program.
Dive Insight:
The potential expansion is the latest in Shell Chemicals' recent investments in Louisiana. The company signed a project framework agreement in March with developer Energy Transfer that puts the two closer to building an LNG export terminal next to Energy Transfer's existing import and regasification facilities in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Industry sources have estimated that the cost of the project will be between $12 billion and $16 billion.
Manufacturing facilities from other firms are also popping up in the state. In February, Venture Global LNG Inc. received U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approval for a $5 billion liquefied natural gas export terminal in Calcasieu Pass, Louisiana. Kiewit will design, engineer, construct, commission, test and guarantee the facility, which is expected to begin operation in 2022.
Last July, LED was designated an Accredited Economic Development Organization, the first statewide agency in the U.S. to earn the recognition. A proposal this week to rework the rules for the state's 80-year-old Industrial Tax Exemption Program fell short of approving legislation to lessen local government decision-making authority over a lucrative property tax break for manufacturers.
