The latest chances for Shell’s groundbreaking ethane cracker in Appalachia

Shell Chemicals for nearly two years has said its final decision to construct a $4 billion ethane cracker near Pittsburgh wouldn’t come quickly.

Too much due diligence to perform, too much feedstock ethane to lock up in contracts, too many customers to sign for the ethylene the cracker produced.

And now, perhaps too much competition to make the region’s largest construction project in decades viable.

All the ethane production from the Appalachian Basin could be swallowed easily by the seven pipelines either operating, soon-to-flow or in various development/construction phases, consultants and analysts have said … MORE