Royal Dutch Shell renews option to buy Pennsylvania land for proposed $2 billion ethylene plant

By VCPOST Staff Reporter

Dec 27, 2013 02:27 AM EST

Netherlands-based Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday said that it has renewed an option to buy the site of a proposed $2 billion ethylene plant in western Pennsylvania.

Wall Street Journal, citing Shell's spokeswoman Kimberly Windon, said the demolition of a zinc-oxide refinery on the site is scheduled to begin early next year at Shell's expense. The site is located in the Pennsylvanian town of Monaca.

The land is owned by Horsehead Hoding Corp., a metal-processing company based in Pittsburgh. A Horsehead spokesman confirmed that Shell's option to acquire the land had been renewed. The terms of the land option, however, were confidential, the report said.

The proposed plant would turn ethane into ethylene, which is used to make plastics. Ethane is a liquid produced alongside natural gas and oil. Shell officials previously said that it might take several years to evaluate the 360-acre site, WSJ wrote.  

Aside from the Pennsylvania plant, Shell is also planning to build a natural gas liquefaction and export project in Canada, the report said.        

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