Re-Posting: Ethane Power Plant West Of Williston -- January 15, 2021

Updates
January 15, 2021: press release, dated January 12, 2021, from Bismarck, ND, and Westlake Village, CA, data points:

• Bakken Midstream Natural Gas, LLC
• has signed its first ethane supply term sheet to support the power plant previously announced
• will be the largest power plant to utilize advances in combustion turbine technology that enables ethane as its primary fuel source;
• The Energy Center: to be located in the Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative near Williston, ND
• October, 2020: announced it had secured nearly $25 million from two separate capital raises
• funding rounds led by the Family Office of Founder and executive chairman, Steven E Lebow
• Lebo was joined by ND business leaders including Gene Nicholas, Ron D. Offutt, and Stephen L. Stenehjem
• Lebow, previously: 
• founded and co-led Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette's (DLJ) Los Angeles office and created and led GRP Partners, a US and European venture capital firm;
• from day one, he was the primary fanancier for companies including Costco Wholesale, PetSmart, Dick's Sporting Goods, Envestnet, Bill Me Later (sold to PayPal) and ULTA Beauty;
• three years of preparation and work to get to this point
• Bakken Midstream: 
• CEO Mike Hopkins
• Lebow, and co-founders Curt Launer and Shane Goettle
• Hopkins:
• has successfully developed 54 power projects around the world, totaling over twelve gigawatts
• was extensively involved in the build out of the value-added industry in Alberta, Canada
• Launer:
• number-one ranked natural gas industry analyst on Wall Street for twelve years
• in the Institutional Investor Magazine Hall of Fame
• Goettle:
• life-long North Dakota businessman and attorney with more than 25 years of state and federal level experience;
• former head of the North Dakota Department of Commerce
• former chair of EmPower North Dakota

Original Post

Link here. 

Bismarck Tribune link here. 

Williston Herald link here.

From The Bismarck Tribune, data points:

• west of Williston
• Bakken Midstream Natural Gas
• $400-million facility
• construction: to begin in 2022
• to take two years
• CEO: Mike Hopkins
• Bakken Midsream
• formed in 2018
• mission: to develop "such" projects
• received a $200,000 investment from ND Department of Commerce
• confidentiality precludes more specific information
  

Are there any other such plants in the US that might provide readers some comparison?

• Pennsylvania Power Plant said to be the first to tap ethane for electricity -- March 27, 2020 -- NGI, link here; proposed as long ago as 2015 by GE, link here;

EIA: costs for new energy plants, 2018, link here. 

• average construction costs, combined cycle: $900 / kW = $900,000 / mW or about a million dollars for a new combined cycle plant;
• average new capacity for a new natural gas plant: 500 MW
• so, 500 megawatts x one million dollars = $500 million 

Hess natural gas processing plant: $150 million, link here. 

Hess Vantage pipeline: link here. 

RBN Energy: Shell's new ethane-consuming steam cracker in the home stretch. See this post also. Archived.

After several years of development, Shell’s $6 billion Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex — the first of its kind in the Marcellus/Utica shale play — is really taking shape about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. The facility, which will consist of a 3.3-billion-lb/year ethylene plant and three polyethylene units, is in its final stages of construction, as is a pipeline that will supply regionally sourced ethane to the steam cracker. When the Falcon Pipeline and the PPC comes online, possibly as soon as 2022, they will provide a new and important outlet for the vast amounts of ethane that is now either “rejected” into natural gas for its Btu value or piped to Canada, the Gulf Coast, or the Marcus Hook export terminal near Philadelphia. Today, we discuss progress on the Marcellus/Utica’s first world-class petrochemical complex and what it will mean for the play’s NGL market.

Two Incredible Statistics -- February 22, 2020

Updates

Later, 11:16 p.m. Central Time: had this been a close race this would have been the story -- what's going on with the Nevada-tabulating app? The caucuses have now been closed for several hours, and only 27 percent of precincts has reported. What's taking so long? Only because Sanders won by such a lopsided margin no one is asking this question. But again, this is extraordinary, how long it's taking for the votes to come in.


Later, 10:33 p.m. Central Time: coming out of Nevada, this is what happens next:

• South Carolina shootout: Biden, Sanders, Steyer -- in that order
• Latino voters will be the surprise voting bloc: Sanders takes Texas and California
• African-American vote incredibly important in South Carolina, but everywhere else, it's all about the Latino/Latina vote -- and Bernie has that vote locked up

Later, 9:00 p.m. Central Time: I'm a political junkie. I can't stand MSNBC. Tonight I find myself defaulting to MSNBC. This is absolutely fascinating. Remember: these MSNBC talking heads were 1000% behind Hillary. They were supremely surprised / shocked that she lost, and subsequently severely depressed, some (most) suffering from Trump Derangement Syndrome. It appears it is happening again. These MSNBC talking heads are shocked at how well Bernie has done. This was never, never expected. It is a hoot to watch MSNBC talking heads trying to sort this out. And that's why I keep turning back to MSNBC tonight. It will be interesting to see how Rachel Maddow handles this shock Monday.

Later, 8:40 p.m. Central Time: wow, wow, wow -- will anyone hit the 15% threshold except Bernie and Biden?

• Bernie: 46%
• Biden: 24%
• Buttigieg: 14%
• Pocahontas: 9%
• but, think about this: Bloomberg was not on the ballot. Bloomberg would have taken a few votes from Bernie and Buttigieg, but he would have likely knocked out Biden and Pocahontas. 

Original Post

First incredible statistic: Nevada caucuses -- early results show Bernie Sanders taking upwards of 55% of the vote. That is incredible, on so many levels. Bloomberg is so lucky he did not enter this race.

By the way, speaking of Bloomberg, is it just me or do those Bloomberg ads look really, really pathetic now? Before the debate, the Bloomberg ads were "believable." The ads didn't say anything except "Mike can do it," but after the debate one really wonders if the only thing Mike can do is make slick ads. We'll see.

Bernie won (or came very, very close to winning) in Iowa and New Hampshire. Then he delivered a knockout blow in Nevada and will clearly win in South Carolina. He will win California on Super Tuesday, and unlike the other candidates won't even have to campaign in California. While his opponents will have to spend a huge amount of time and a huge amount of financial resources in California, he can spend his time in other states. 

Back on January 31 2020, I wrote:

The California poll, KQED/NPR, 1/25 - 1/27: if by Super Tuesday, we still have seven viable Democrat candidates, it's very, very possible Sanders takes all delegates.

The Super Tuesday states:

Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Democrats Abroad, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Virginia.

Finally:

The excitement in the Bernie camp is palpable. Everyone's eyes are on California. But when you look at the entire list of states voting on March 3, it's hard to believe he will do as well as the Bernie folks think he will. But by Super Tuesday, will Biden, Klobuchar, Pocahontas, Buttigieg, even have the resources to keep going? I'm not sure.

Anyway, that's longer than I had planned.

**********************************

Back to the Bakken

The second incredible statistic, which comes from the Bakken, and from a reader in response to this post. This is the comment from that reader regarding all the ethane coming out of the Bakken (a reminder for those who are receiving royalties: natural gas is primarily methane, a one-carbon gas; ethane, propane, and butane are the C2 - C4 gases).

An eerie point in this story that the EXTRA Bakken ethane that needs to be pulled out of the gas (not all of it, just the extra) would be enough to fill a cracker.

https://btuanalytics.com/bakken-gas-quality/. This is an incredibly good article, dated February 11, 2020. I will come back to this one. It's so important that I have archived it.

Later: I have spent the last hour or so trying to sort out this "BTU Analytics" story, and still haven't found what I wanted. A reader that really, really understands this, and really provides me helpful information, put this article into perspective:

Theoretically, a $6 billion cracker could be built in North Dakota and have an almost indefinite amount of 'free' ethane feedstock for decades. 

The qoutation marks surrounding 'free' are only due to the needed processing (fractionation) and piping to this theoretical cracker.

That 90,000 bbld rejected ethane is less than a single Appalachian Basin operator - Antero - rejects every single day.

Meanwhile, India (Gail and Reliance) has started a brand new industry - along with European Ineos - in constructing fleets of massive ships to transport American ethane/ethylene to their new crackers.

Huge new plants going up in Antwerp and in at least two cities in China.

The amount of gaseous hydrocarbons brought to market via this Shale Revolution is simply unfathomable.

I will post this article as a stand-alone post.

 

Richness, GPM, from a "white paper:

Associated gas is produced as a by-product of oil production and the oil recovery process. After the production fluids are brought to the surface, they are separated at a tank battery at or near the production lease into a hydrocarbon liquid stream (Crude Oil or Condensate), a produced water stream (brine or salty water) and a gaseous stream.

The gaseous stream is traditionally very rich (Rich Gas) in natural gas liquids (NGLs).

NGLs are defined as Ethane, Propane, Butanes, and Pentanes and “Heaviers” (higher molecular weight hydrocarbons) (C5+). The C5+ product is commonly referred to as Natural Gasoline.

Rich gas will have a high heating value and a high HDP. When referring to NGLs in the gas stream, the term GPM (gallons per thousand cubic feet) is used as a measure of hydrocarbon richness. The terms “rich gas” and “lean gas” are commonly used in the gas processing industry. They are not precise indicators but only indicate the relative NGL content.

HDP: hydrocarbon dew point --

the water dew point is the temperature at which water vapor will condense to liquid water. The water content in a pipeline is already covered by tariff provisions and is mentioned here for illustrative purposes. Similarly, the hydrocarbon dew point (HDP) is the temperature at which hydrocarbons will begin to condense; hence the expression "hydrocarbon liquid drop out."

Bakken Ethane And An Ethane Cracker, BTU Analytics, Readers' Comments -- February 22, 2020

See this news story also, link here. 

Hess Midstream Partners LP is expanding natural gas processing capacity at its 250-MMcfd Tioga gas plant in North Dakota, north of the Missouri River.

The planned 150-MMcfd expansion will add residue and y-grade liquids processing capacity to the existing full-fractionation and ethane-extraction capability of the current plant, Hess Midstream said.

The expansion—for which product takeaway has been secured and which will raise total gas processing capacity at Tioga to 400 MMcfd—is scheduled to enter service in mid-2021 at a total cost of about $150 million.

Following completion of its 100-MMcfd Little Missouri 4 gas processing plant in McKenzie County, ND—a joint venture with Targa Resources Corp.—scheduled for some time in third-quarter 2019 and the Tioga expansion, Hess Midstream said it will have 500 MMcfd of net gas processing capacity in the Bakken region.

The Tioga expansion comes amid continued Bakken growth from Hess and third parties that has created additional demand for processing capacity north of the Missouri River, said John Gatling, Hess Midstream’s chief operating officer.

Re-posting:

[An] incredible statistic, which comes from the Bakken, and from a reader in response to this post. This is the comment from that reader regarding all the ethane coming out of the Bakken (a reminder for those who are receiving royalties: natural gas is primarily methane, a one-carbon gas; ethane, propane, and butane are the C2 - C4 gases).

An eerie point in this story that the EXTRA Bakken ethane that needs to be pulled out of the gas (not all of it, just the extra) would be enough to fill a cracker.

https://btuanalytics.com/bakken-gas-quality/. This is an incredibly good article, dated February 11, 2020. I will come back to this one. It's so important that I have archived it.

Later: I have spent the last hour or so trying to sort out this "BTU Analytics" story, and still haven't found what I wanted. A reader that really, really understands this, and really provides me helpful information, put this article into perspective:

Theoretically, a $6 billion cracker could be built in North Dakota and have an almost indefinite amount of 'free' ethane feedstock for decades. 

The qoutation marks surrounding 'free' are only due to the needed processing (fractionation) and piping to this theoretical cracker.

That 90,000 bbld rejected ethane is less than a single Appalachian Basin operator - Antero - rejects every single day.

Meanwhile, India (Gail and Reliance) has started a brand new industry - along with European Ineos - in constructing fleets of massive ships to transport American ethane/ethylene to their new crackers.

Huge new plants going up in Antwerp and in at least two cities in China.

The amount of gaseous hydrocarbons brought to market via this Shale Revolution is simply unfathomable.

This was posted earlier but deserved a stand-alone post. 

Richness, GPM, from a "white paper:

Associated gas is produced as a by-product of oil production and the oil recovery process. After the production fluids are brought to the surface, they are separated at a tank battery at or near the production lease into a hydrocarbon liquid stream (Crude Oil or Condensate), a produced water stream (brine or salty water) and a gaseous stream. 

The gaseous stream is traditionally very rich (Rich Gas) in natural gas liquids (NGLs). NGLs are defined as Ethane, Propane, Butanes, and Pentanes and “Heaviers” (higher molecular weight hydrocarbons) (C5+). The C5+ product is commonly referred to as Natural Gasoline. 

Rich gas will have a high heating value and a high HDP. When referring to NGLs in the gas stream, the term GPM (gallons per thousand cubic feet) is used as a measure of hydrocarbon richness. The terms “rich gas” and “lean gas” are commonly used in the gas processing industry. They are not precise indicators but only indicate the relative NGL content.

Disclaimer: I absolutely don't understand so much of this. What little I understand: this is a huge, huge story for the Bakken. Yeah, I get the "chemistry," but what I don't understand is the economics of this. The BTU Analytics article and the input from readers is a great help. Thank you.

Plastics Plant, Lebow-Bakken Midstream Update -- June 6, 2019

This story will be tracked here for now.

From Bakken Midstream press release:

Bakken Midstream, a developer of value-added natural gas infrastructure in North Dakota, announced today the closing of its Series A funding.

The first-round funding led by the Family Office of Founder and Chairman, Steven E. Lebow was oversubscribed. Previously, Lebow co-led Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette’s Los Angeles office and ran GRP Partners, a venture capital firm.

He was a primary financier for companies including Costco Wholesale, PetSmart, Dick’s Sporting Goods and ULTA Beauty.

Lebow has been studying the North Dakota natural gas market for several years along with representatives of the State and industry and believes the timing is right to build a major infrastructure company in North Dakota.

Other investors in the round include Richard A. Galanti, longtime CFO of Costco Wholesale, Charles J. Philippin, former longtime Chairman of ULTA Beauty, George P. Orban, Co-Founder and Lead Director of Ross Stores, Inc., and Herald L. Ritch, Founder of DC Advisory.

It Never Quits -- An Ethane Update -- February 9, 2019

Sometime in the past week or so, I think it was a result of the president's state of the union address, folks got carried away with fact checking the president on whether the US really was a net exporter of energy. Wow, what an incredibly shallow argument. While pundits are arguing over how many angels can dance on the head of a pin (we've had this discussion before -- the answer depends on whether their arms are outstretched or held close to their wings) so much more important stuff is going on.

Until I saw the recent EIA tweet on ethane, I had completely forgotten all about it. During the Bakken boom, "ethane rejection" was a big topic (something I knew nothing about; a reader gently informed me what "ethane rejection" meant).

Since then, it hasn't been something I've thought about much.

I do have a tag, "North Dakota ethane plant."

Since the boom, the US has begun exporting ethane to some extent, and there are now folks worried that the US exporters will deplete our own ethane that is needed for our own feedstock.

This is why they are worried: the Middle East doubled its petrochemical output in the 2000s and now doesn’t have enough ethane for many future projects.

Wow.

It turns out that the US has plenty of ethane and won't run out anytime soon.

It is all because of hydraulic, horizontal fracking, thank you very much. The chemical industry wasn’t prepared for all the ethane that ultimately came from the shale boom. The US is #1 in crude oil production from HHF, and Argentina is #2. Most other western countries, it seems, bans fracking. In fact, some US states ban fracking. Folks sort of forget that more comes out of fracking than just oil. But I digress.

Back to US ethane.

Data points from a 2018 article that updates US ethane data from 2017:

• the petrochemical industry’s initial reaction to this bounty was to convert plants from naphtha to ethane feedstock and launch quick, incremental expansions
• the response ramped up last year (2017) when new crackers from Dow Chemical and Mexichem added a combined 2.0 million metric tons of annual ethylene capacity
• two monster crackers from ExxonMobil and Chevron Phillips Chemical, which combine for 3 million metric tons, are starting up right now
• five more projects will add more than 5.0 million metric tons by 2020
• the new chemical plants will mean an enormous leap in ethane consumption by 2020, going from a market that was consuming 1 million barrels to one that will use 1.8 million bbls
• Now, on to exports:
• almost three crackers' worth of ethane is currently being exported from the US
• because of low prices, producers are rejecting more than 600,000 bpd -- enough to support 10 million metric tons of annual ethylene capacity
• prices are starting to support new fractionation capacity
• Nova Chemicals
• a Canadian company
• recently bought Williams Cos.' ethylene cracker in Geismar, LA
• Nova / Borealis and Total have just okayed an ethylene cracker in Texas
• also using US ethane in Canada
• since 2014, Nova has been piping ethane from North Dakota to Nova's operations in Joffre, Alberta; the company received enough ethane from North Dakota to build a new polyethylene plant
• Nova: North Dakota has a big surplus of ethane and not enough outlets to market
• Nova now wishes they had put in a bigger pipeline from North Dakota to Joffre
• Appalachia
• currently at 800,000 bpd
• should grow to 1.3 million bpd by 2022
• new pipelines to the east coast for ethane export; new ethylene complexes in Pennsylvnai, and a cracker funded by two Asian firms are planned for Belmont, OH, should help soak up that excess
• an Appalachian hub could catalyze $36 billion in investment and 100,000 jobs in the region
• some think the region could support as many as four or five crackers

Much more at the link.

See also this post.

See this superb series on ethane in the Houston Chronicle. I believe I have linked this article before; it was sent to me by a reader some time ago. The Chronicle allows a few free articles each month.

• Part 1. 
• Part 2.
• Part 3. 

More:

• ethane infrastructure squeeze should loosen in 2019, ExxonMobil, November 2, 2018;

Update On Shell's Plan For A Marcellus/Utica Ethylene Plant -- RBN Energy -- July 13, 2016

Active rigs:

	7/13/2016	07/13/2015	07/13/2014	07/13/2013	07/13/2012
Active Rigs	29	72	190	186	215

RBN Energy: update on Shell's plan for a Marcellus/Utica ethylene plant.

Whether or not Shell Chemicals follows through on its plan to build a $6 billion ethylene plant near Pittsburgh, PA –– and when that steam cracker comes online –– will have a significant impact on the U.S. ethane, ethylene and polyethylene markets. By consuming an estimated 90-100 Mb/d of ethane, the cracker’s operation would reduce the volume of ethane that needs to be moved out of the “wet” Marcellus/Utica production area, trim the amount of ethane available for export from marine terminals, and likely push ethane prices higher than they would otherwise be. Today, we examine what’s driving plans for the Northeast’s first cracker, and what effects the plant will have.

There’s an old story about two bear hunters, Roy and John, who hike deep into the forest to their hunting cabin. While Roy cleans up the cabin and puts away their gear, John goes outside to look for any signs of a bear. Not too much later, Roy hears John yelling “open the door, open the door!”  Roy looks out the window and sees that John is being chased by a huge bear, so he opens the door of the cabin. Just as John reaches the door, he jumps to the side and the bear charges into the cabin. John slams the door shut and yells at Roy, “I caught the bear, now you skin him.”

In many ways Shell Chemicals’ recent commitment to a new ethane-based ethylene facility near the heart of the natural gas liquids (NGLs) production area in western Pennsylvania is an enormous bear.  On June 7, 2016, Shell announced that it had made a Final Investment Decision (FID) to move forward with the $6 billion project to build a 1.5 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) ethylene plant and three polyethylene plants that will produce 1.6 MTPA of polyethylene. Polyethylene is used in many products, from food packaging and containers to automotive components.  This FID does not fully “guarantee” that Shell will proceed with the project, but it represents a major commitment, and given the plant’s ready access to locally sourced ethane and Shell’s “first-mover” status (several other crackers have been under consideration in the Marcellus/Utica area), it is reasonable to conclude that the plant is likely to become a reality by 2021 or 2022.  Construction of the cracker could begin as soon as late 2017 or early 2018.

I track the proposed $4 billion North Dakota plastics (ethane to ethylene, polyethylene) here.

Update On Badlands NGLs, LLC -- March 3, 2016

Updates

June 21, 2016: a reminder of past articles on same subject.

June 21, 2016: a presentation dated May 24, 2016. Read original post below. Here are additional data points; some may be old; some may be new:

• graphic updates amount of ethane rejected, stranded (it's a lot)
• Canadian tsunami of natural gas coming; Canada has announced no new western Canadian cracker

 

Original Post

 

For background to this update, see this post regarding the Badlands Ethane Project. A reader sent me a link to a recent Badlands NGLs, LLC, presentation, dated Februyary 24, 2016. I said earlier it was on the internet; I'm not sure it is.

This is the premise:

• the Bakken has a lot of ethane that is being rejected and put back into the natural gas stream
• the Bakken has a lot of ethane, period
• the Bakken is landlocked; Bakken NGL is physically and economically stranded
• restrictions on what is shipped by rail will only be tightened going forward
• a huge amount of value-added opportunities, think potatoes to potato chips
• opportunity for petrochemical project here in North Dakota (ethane to polyethylene; feedstock for almost all petrochemical products)

With that in mind, some other data points, and these really surprised me because the Bakken is known as an "oily" play, not a natural gas play:

• Permian wet gas contained 4 - 6 gallons of mixed NGL per MCF of raw wellhead gas
• Marcellus wet gas contained slightly higher concentrations of NGL
• The Bakken consistently produces 11 gallons of NG per MCF of raw gas

Williston ethane production outlook

• 2013: 175 MB/D
• 2015: 175 MB/D
• July, 2015: 250 MB/D
• 2020: 260 MB/D (forecast)

The actual Bakken NGL and ethane production in the summer of 2015 (well into the Saudi Surge/Slump). It is likely the 2020 forecast above is also low.

The Marcellus / Bakken "Disparity

• Marcellus producers have commitments of 300 MB/D ethane to Europe, India: take or pay
• Marcellus accounts for about 25%of European polyethylene capacity
• Europe and Indian PE manufacturers pay BTU ethane price plus 35 cents/gallon transportation costs
• in contrast, the value of North Dakota ethane produced and sold bears no resemblance to the market-plus-freight price realized by Marcellus

Current Bakken NGL distribution

• ONEOK: 111 MB/D
• Vantage: 20 MB/D
• Tioga Lateral: 3 MB/D
• WBI: 5 MB/D
• Northern Border: 100 MB/D 
• Total: 240 MB/D
• Local consumption and takeaway capacity (rail/truck): 135 MB/D
• Ethane probably 25% of the 100MB/D being taken away
• Ethane content of 25% is problematic for both rail/truck

It gets worse: risk of Williston Basin ethane being physically stranded in five years

• Northern Border is the sole Williston Basin NG pipeline outlet
• by 2020, Williston Basin ethane could result in exceed what Northern Border could handle
• by 2020, Bakken NGLs - Y grade likely to be stranded: due to "tsunami" of NGL being produced; ONEOK's takeaway capacity would almost need to double and in light of low NGL prices, not likely to happen

The Tsunami

• From Canada, northwest of the Bakken: Horn River, Montney, Duvernay (British Columbia)
• Montney, conservative case/high case: 449 / 645 TCF of natural gas
• Duverney: 443 Tcf of natural gas
• Duverney, alone: liquid production could grow from 27,000 bopd (2015) to 320,000 bopd ten tens from now (2025)
• number of new Western Canadian crackers announced/planned: zero

To date: only one new western North America cracker/PE license announced: Badlands ND/Badlands Shangri-La

• purchase C1 through C4
• crack C2 and produce polyethylene
• sell purity C3 and I-C4
• isomerize N-C4 and sell I-C4
• return "lean gas" to the pipeliens, thereby reducing BTU content

Badlands Plans

• two world-class facilities
• two locations: North Dakota and "Shangri-La"
• first: Shangri-La -- "on the water" -- 36 months to hydrocarbons
• second: North Dakota -- not "on the water" 

Technology

• cracker: Technip -- market leader; building 3 plants in US for Sasol, CP Chem, and Dow
• PE: Univation -- market leader, owned by Dow
• captive co-monomer manufacture: "name brand"
• product off-take: "name brand"

Agreements:

• feedstock agreements in advanced discussions in both locations
• EPC: agreement in principal; lump sum turn key
• financing: advanced stage
• site selection: advanced stage; Shangri-La site close to selection; North Dakota close to selection

Shangri-La Facility Cracker: Technip cracker

• Technip cracker: same design being built for SASOL and Chevron Phillips
• 94 modules fabricated in Mexico; delivered "on the water" to Gulf Coast
• Shangri-La Facility PE
• 2 Univation PE reactors; up to 24 different PE products
• according to Univation (formerly Union Carbide), Badlands will produce the most diverse product line of any Univation licensee

North Dakota PE: identical Univation reactors and capacity

• over 500 permanent and high-paying ND jobs

$4 Billion Petrochemical Plant In North Dakota To Be Supplied By CLR -- September 26, 2015

S o m a n y s t o r y l i n e s . . .

The Dickinson Press is reporting:

A Denver-based company that unveiled plans last fall for a $4 billion petrochemical plant in North Dakota said Friday it has entered into a long-term ethane supply agreement with one of the biggest players in the state’s Oil Patch.

Badlands NGL’s said it has entered a “precedent agreement” with Continental Resources Inc. to supply the plant with ethane gas, a byproduct of natural gas processing that will be converted into polyethylene for use in a wide variety of plastic products.

Shane Goettle of the Bismarck-based firm Odney, a consultant on the project, said Badlands won’t be able to draw on Continental’s ethane until the plant is completed, hopefully in three to five years.

For newbies, a reminder: the Bakken is an oily play, not a natural gas play.

More:

Badlands has not identified a location yet for the North Dakota plant.

Gilliam also said in June that the company plans to build a second ethane plant in the continental United States.