Aither Chemicals is partnering with Bayer MaterialScience to gauge third-party interest for chemicals that would be produced by a proposed ethane cracker in the Northeast US.
The South Charleston, West Virginia-based chemicals upstart on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with Bayer MaterialScience, part of the Bayer Group, to launch an open season for ethylene -- a key building block in the petrochemical industry -- and other chemicals from a proposed catalytic ethane cracker in the Kanawha Valley region of West Virginia that could be in service as early as 2015.
The byproducts also include acetic acid, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide for sale at competitive market pricing or use in making downstream derivatives and other products such as ethylene oxide, Aither said in announcing the agreement.
The cracker would use proprietary, scalable technology to crack ethane and convert it into other products.
"The memorandum of understanding is a first step towards building a catalytic ethane cracker in the Kanawha Valley region and we are optimistic that the market will respond," Aither CEO Leonard Dolhert said.
As part of the agreement, Bayer will assist in the effort to evaluate third-party interest in the chemicals. Several ethane suppliers have expressed interest in supplying ethane to the project.
OPEN SEASON THROUGH JULY 20
The open season will run from June 22 through July 20. Aither will then evaluate the market response and decide on the next steps by August 31.
The open season process is commonly used in the midstream energy business to determine market interest in new business.
Aither said it plans to offer 600 million lb/year (272,000 mt/yr) of ethylene, 300 million pounds of acetic acid, 80 million pounds of carbon dioxide and 40 million pounds of carbon monoxide.
The company is one of several planning to build ethane-fed crackers to take advantage of cheap natural gas and natural gas liquids that have resulted from the US shale gas boom.
Other companies include more established chemical players include ExxonMobil Chemical, Dow Chemical, Formosa Plastics, ChevronPhillips Chemical, Sasol and Shell Chemicals.
Other than Aither, Shell is the only other producer that has publicly acknowledged it is considering the Northeast -- Monaca, Pennsylvania, to be more precise -- for a proposed cracker that would benefit from cheap feedstock coming from the nearby Marcellus Shale.
