Ineos in ethane deal with supermajors

Ineos has signed a long-term deal with ExxonMobil and Shell to supply ethane from US shale gas to an ethylene plant in Scotland, the multinational chemicals company announced Tuesday in a statement.

Under the terms of the sales and purchase agreement, Ineos will supply ethane from its import terminal at Grangemouth in Stirlingshire to the Fife Ethylene Plant in Scotland beginning in mid-2017.

Ineos has poured about $484 million in constructing the import terminal at Grangemouth, designed to hold more than 60,000 cubic metres of ethane. In addition to importing from the US, Ineos is attempting to bring in ethane from China and Europe to replace declining supply in the North Sea.

“US ethane from shale gas will provide an additional resource, supplementing domestic production from the North Sea. It will now be used by two of Scotland’s largest manufacturing plants helping to secure their feedstock supply for years to come,” Geir Tuft, business director at Ineos O&P UK, said in the company statement.