INEOS and China’s SP Chemicals sign long term supply agreement for U.S. ethane
Agreement includes construction of the largest ethane carrier ship ever built
The deal will involve the construction of a 95,000cbm capacity ship which is expected to be delivered in 2019. Known in the US as a ‘Very Large Ethane Carrier’ or VLEC it will be the largest ethane carrier in the world, and will ship US ethane from shale gas to SP Chemicals’ new gas cracker facility, currently under construction in Taixing China. As with the INEOS Dragon ships, this vessel will be operated by EVERGAS. It will be the first VLEC in their fleet of 23 gas ships. The ship will be built in China under the management of the JACCAR Group.
Ethane is used to make ethylene – one of the world’s most important chemical building blocks. Ethylene is an important raw material used to make products for a wide variety of industrial and consumer markets such as transportation, electronics, textile and construction.
David Thompson, CEO of INEOS Trading & Shipping, said: “This is another world first for INEOS after importing shale gas to Europe in 2015. By bringing in U.S. ethane from shale gas to China for the first time, we are now leading the way in shipping ethane worldwide to meet the needs of an expanding chemicals sector.”
Upstream dream
Chan Hian Siang, CEO of SP Chemicals, said, SP Chemicals will commission a gas cracker plant in 2019 to produce 650,000 tons per annum of ethylene. This first long-term supply agreement for ethane with INEOS will be an important milestone for SP Chemicals to achieve self-sufficiency for its ethylene requirements.”
Steffen Jacobsen, CEO of Evergas, said “We are very pleased to further strengthen our relationship with INEOS co-operating on the seabourne transportation of Ethane from the US to China”.
