Project Profile
Value: US$21 billion
Location: Lake Charles in Louisiana state, USA
GTL plant capacity: 96,000 barrels per day (b/d) or 4 million t/y of natural gas
Ethane Cracker capacity: 1.5 million tonnes per year (t/y) of ethylene.
Start-up Year: Commercial operations by 2017 for the Ethane Cracker and Derivates, and 2019 and 2020 respectively for the two GTL trains
Sasol is currently proceeding to the selection of the license and technologies required for the olefins and derivatives production units of its integrated gas-to-liquid (GTL) and ethane cracker complex to be built at Lake Charles in Louisiana, USA. With an estimated budget of US$21 billion capital expenditure, the Sasol GTL and Ethane Cracker complex shall be the largest ever project in Louisiana. Sasol awarded in December 2012, the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract of the Lake Charles project to the Houston-based engineering company Fluor. This FEED contract covers the GTL plant, the ethane cracker and the petrochemical facilities defined as Sasol US Mega Projects. In respect with the complexity and diversity of the processes and production units, Sasol has appointed WorleyParsons to provide project management consultancy (PMC) on the whole Lake Charles project. According to its PMC contract, WorleyParsons will support Sasol project management from the FEED phase to the engineering, procurement and construction phase. In parallel Sasol has also started to identify the best technologies to leverage its GTL- Ethane Cracker and derivatives integrated business model.
For the tetramerisation in the Ziegler alcohol and Guerbet units, Sasol will use its own proprietary processes.
Regarding the other critical technologies, Sasol selected:
- ExxonMobil for the low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit
- Scientific design for the ethylene oxide (EO) unit and the monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit
- Technip Stone and Webster for the ethane cracker
- Univation Technologies for the the linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) unit
Based on these licenses, Sasol awarded the basic design for the corresponding petrochemical units to:
- Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding (Mitsui) for the LDPE
- Samsung Engineering America for the EO and MEG units
- Toyo Engineering Corporation (Toyo) for the (LLDPE)
Sasol sized the US Mega Projects around the:
- GTL plant with a capacity of 96,000 barrels per day (b/d) or 4 million t/y of natural gas
- Ethane Cracker to be designed to produce 1.5 million tonnes per year (t/y) of ethylene.
The GTL plant will be built in two phases of 46,000 b/d each in order to adapt the production to the growing demand in the USA for GTL diesel fuel. This GTL plant will also produce:
- Naphtha
- Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)
- GTL-based high performances oils
- Medium and hard wax
- Paraffin
- Linear Alkyl Benzene
Sasol is planning to make the final investment decision (FID) for the Lake Charkes Ethane Cracker and Derivates project in 2014 financed with an estimated US$7 billion capital expenditure. Then the FID for the GTL plant should be made in a second step in 2016 supported by an investment of US$14 billion capital expenditure. With the PMC support from WorleyParsons, Sasol expects Fluor to complete the FEED work for the Lake Charles GTL - Ethane Cracker and Derivatives US Mega Project in 2014 in order to start commercial operations by 2017 for the Ethane Cracker and Derivates, and 2019 and 2020 respectively for the two GTL trains.
Operators:
Sasol: Operator with 100% interest
Contractors:
ExxonMobil: Provide technology process for the low density polyethylene (LDPE) unit
Fluor: FEED contract that covers the GTL plant, the ethane cracker and the petrochemical facilities
Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding (Mitsui): Provide the basic design for the LDPE
Samsung Engineering America: Provide the basic design for the EO and MEG units
Technip Stone and Webster: Provide technology process for the ethane cracker and FEED contract
Toyo Engineering Corporation (Toyo): Provide the basic design for the (LLDPE)
WorleyParsons: PMC contract