Sasol’s Lake Charles chemicals project is an ethane cracker, which will use about 100,000 barrels of ethane a day to produce 1.5Mt of ethylene a year for Sasol. About 90% of this output will then be used to make speciality chemicals. By June, about half the Lake Charles project had been built, at a cost of US$4.8bn. By 2019, about 80% of the project’s production will be online, and the rest will follow soon after. Timing, however, is crucial. Sasol’s oil and gas rivals are scrambling to build ethane crackers in North America to take advantage of cheap and abundant shale gas as a feedstock to make more complex chemicals products. Fleetwood Grobler, Sasol’s executive vice-president of the chemicals business, says there will be a short-term glut of polyethylene in North America over the next few years as the first wave of ethane crackers moves into production. But Grobler says supply growth in North America will actually be quite modest given demand, so it should be absorbed rapidly. S...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.