• Author: Jim Magill
• Editor: Pankti Mehta
• Commodity: Petrochemicals
• 10 Sep 2018 | 17:35 UTC

Houston — Shell’s plans to build a world-class ethane cracker in western Pennsylvania took a step forward Friday with the approval by the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission of rate structures for the company’s proposed Falcon Ethane Pipeline system.

The approval allows Shell to move forward in its plans to build the 97-mile pipeline designed to carry ethane extracted from Marcellus and Utica gas produced in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.

The Falcon Pipeline, with a proposed capacity of about 107,000 b/d, will originate at two ethane supply points in Ohio and one ethane supply point in Pennsylvania and will transport the ethane to delivery points in Ohio and Pennsylvania, including the 86,000 b/d ethane cracker that Shell proposes to build near Monaca, Pennsylvania. read more

By Jared Stonesifer : Posted Apr 3, 2018 at 8:56 PMUpdated Apr 3, 2018 at 8:56 PM

CENTER TWP. — Nearly 100 people turned out to a public hearing at Central Valley High School to voice their opinions on Shell Pipeline’s proposed Falcon ethane pipeline project.

If constructed, the pipeline would transport up to 107,000 barrels of ethane per day to Shell Chemicals’ $6 billion ethane cracker plant in Potter Township.

It would consist of two legs: one coming into western Beaver County from Ohio and West Virginia, and another coming into southern Beaver County through Allegheny County. The two legs will join south of the Potter Township plant. read more

By Jared Stonesifer 

Royal Dutch Shell expects its chemicals division to earn between $3.5 billion to $4 billion annually by 2025, and Beaver County’s ethane cracker plant will likely play a role in that.

Shell executives made those remarks Wednesday during an open house for investors. The event was designed to highlight the gains being made in Shell’s many downstream businesses, which includes the chemicals sector.

The company, which is in the midst of building a $6 billion cracker plant in Potter Township, has repeatedly maintained its Beaver County project will be ready for production sometime early in the next decade. read more

By Paul J. Gough  –  Reporter, Pittsburgh Business Times

Jan 29, 2018, 11:04am EST Updated Jan 29, 2018, 8:47pm

A coalition of environmental groups is raising concerns about the route of the pipeline Shell Chemicals is using to carry ethane to its petrochemical plant under construction in Beaver County.

FracTracker Alliance announced Monday its own environmental study of the route of the 97-mile Falcon Pipeline through 22 towns in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The study said 550 houses, 20 businesses, 240 wells and five schools are among 1,000 feet of the pipeline as well as three bodies of water in the Ambridge Reservoir watershed. read more

By Jared Stonesifer: Posted Nov 15, 2017 at 5:00 PMUpdated Nov 15, 2017 at 5:08 PM

Jim Palmer, president of the Beaver County Corporation for Economic Development, said CED is acquiring about 54 acres that sit between the Shell site and the BASF and NOVA Chemicals properties.

The sale of the land, currently owned by the Lyondell Environmental Custodial Trust, is expected to close later this month. Palmer on Tuesday declined to disclose the sale price.

While Shell isn’t technically the buyer of the land, the company is underwriting the cost of CED acquiring the land. Under the agreement, CED will retain ownership but will sign a land covenant stating that no development of any kind can take place on the property. read more

By SARAH BODEN: 14November 2017

A public health researcher delivered a dire warning on Monday during a panel on the implications of the planned Royal Dutch Shell ethane cracker plant in Beaver County.

“When we allow industry to get way out in front of public health and environmental oversight, we end up counting bodies,” said Dr. Brian Schwartz of the Geisinger Center for Health Research in Montour County.

Schwartz studies how environmental changes caused by energy exploitation activities, such as fracking, affect public health. He made his comments during the “Shale and Public Health” conference at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School Of Public Health, an event organized by the League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania. read more

By Jared Stonesifer: Oct 17, 2017 

Royal Dutch Shell is pursuing a massive shift in its business model by focusing heavily on the petrochemical business, something that has its roots right here in Beaver County.

Shell, the multi-national oil and gas giant that is one of the largest companies in the world, will have three new petrochemical projects come online early next decade. In addition to the local cracker project, Shell is making other chemical-sector investments in Louisiana and another in China. read more