LyondellBasell completes major ethylene expansion

LyondellBasell has completed a 360,000-metric-ton-per-year expansion of ethylene capacity at its Corpus Christi, Texas, complex. The project expanded capacity for the petrochemical building block at the site by 50% and completes a program to expand capacity by 1.1 million metric tons per year without building a new ethylene cracker as competitors have done. “By expanding ethylene capacity in the U.S. through debottlenecks rather than long and costly greenfield developments, we quickly added substantial capacity for significantly less than the cost of a new plant,” says Bob Patel, LyondellBasell’s CEO.