Name of the Project
Lake Charles Chemicals Project (LCCP).

Location
Louisiana, US.

Project Owner/s
Sasol.

Project Description
The LCCP comprises a world-scale 1.54-million-ton-a-year ethane cracker and derivatives complex near Lake Charles, in the southern US state of Louisiana.

Besides the ethane cracker, the project includes six downstream chemicals projects.

Two large polymer plants – a low-density and linear low-density polyethylene (LDPE) plant, and an ethylene oxide/ethylene glycol (EO/EG) plant – will use about two-thirds of the ethylene produced, while three smaller, higher-value derivative plants will use the balance to produce speciality alcohols, ethoxylates and other products.

The LCCP will use about 100 000 bbl/d of ethane, sourced from suppliers that feed ethane into Mont Belvieu, Texas. While Sasol expects ethane prices to rise, it remains confident of feed-stock availability, having contracted 70% of its supply and buying the balance opportunistically on the spot market.

The petrochemicals complex is expected to almost triple Sasol’s chemical production capacity in the US.

Potential Job Creation
In August 2019, Sasol stated that the project had generated more than 800 full-time quality manufacturing jobs – with up to 6 500 people on site during construction, $4-billion spent with Louisiana businesses and nearly $200-million in local and state taxes.

Capital Expenditure
The cost of the LCCP has been revised from between $11.6-billion and $11.8-billion, announced in February 2019, to between $12.6-billion and $12.9-billion, announced in May 2019.

Planned Start/End Date
The new EO/EG production facility at LCCP reached beneficial operation in June 2019. The ethane cracker reached beneficial operation in August 2019.

Latest Developments
Sasol has confirmed that there has been an explosion and fire at the LDPE unit at its LCCP.

The new unit had not yet achieved beneficial operations as planned for in December.

The unit was in the final stages of commissioning and start-up when the incident occurred.

It has been shut down and an investigation is under way to determine the cause of the incident, the extent of the damage and the resulting impact of the LDPE unit’s beneficial operation schedule.

All other LCCP units and previously commissioned LCCP units have been unaffected and are operating to plan, Sasol has reported.

The remaining three downstream units under construction to complete the integrated LCCP site – Ziegler alcohols and alumina, alcohol ethoxylates and Guerbet alcohols – are also unaffected and remain within cost and schedule.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Fluor Corporation and Technip joint venture (engineering, procurement and construction management contract).

On Budget and on Time?
The project has had some delays and the project’s budget has been revised. In 2014, the group said the Louisiana project would cost $8.9-billion to build, but there have been several cost revisions since then. In February 2019, Sasol provided a cost-to-completion range of between $11.6-billion and $11.8-billion. That revision increased the project’s price tag by between $1-billion and $1.3-billion, with the higher figure including a contingency of $300-million. The latest revision, in May 2019, increased the project’s price tag to between $12.6-billion and $12.9-billion.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sasol director of public affairs (US) Russell Johnson, tel +1 281 588 3027 or email media@us.sasol.com.
Sasol (South Africa) group media relations head Alex Anderson, tel +27 11 441 3295 or email alex.anderson@sasol.com.