Green light for new US plant

INEOS has given the final backing for a new world-scale plant to be built near Houston in Texas.

When it becomes operational in November 2018, the plant will produce 420,000 tons of linear alpha olefins (LAOs) every year – 20% more than INEOS Oligomers had originally planned.

The decision to increase production at INEOS’ Chocolate Bayou site has been driven by America’s shale gas boom, which has slashed the cost of energy and raw materials, and customer demand.

LAOs are used in a huge range of products including shampoos, packaging, pipes, tyres and agrochemicals.

The new plant will also help INEOS’ growing polyalphaolefin business because it will make the raw materials the business needs to manufacture high performance synthetic lubricants.

The wind industry relies on these high viscosity oils to improve the performance and reliability of wind turbine gearboxes. In the past the industry has been plagued by gearboxes failing, leading to a loss of production.

INEOS Oligomers is already the world’s largest producer of PAOs but this latest investment represents a major step forward in the company’s ambitious growth plans for its LAO business.

By the end of 2018 the global LAO production capacity of INEOS Oligomers, which has other plants in Canada and Belgium, will be about one million metric tons a year.