Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Promoting Ethane Project

Zhejiang Satellite Energy, wholly owned by Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical, built a branch in the U.S. in 2015 called Satellite Petrochemical USA. On March 13, 2018, Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical announced that Satellite Petrochemical USA would jointly build Orbit Gulf Coast NGL Exports with Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals. The registered address of the newly built company will be in Texas.

The investment of Orbit Gulf Coast NGL Exports is 630 million USD. Therein, Sunoco Partners Marketing & Terminals invests 334 million USD, and Satellite Petrochemical USA invests 296 million USD. The new company will mainly cover the ethane export facilities’ operation and management.

The U.S. shale gas revolution pushes up the supply of NGL. The market demand for methane, propane and butane stabilizes at a high level. But the ethane cracking industry just started only a few years ago. The U.S. ethane is mainly supplied to U.S. ethane cracking projects, and some ethane producers are considering to build ethane export facilities. But ethane cracking projects are not widely seen in other countries.

Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical is building a 3,200kt/a light hydrocarbons comprehensive utilization project in Lianyungang, Jiangsu Province. The newly company can ensure stable supply of feedstock for the project in Lianyungang.

But according to SCI, there are several risks in the new company in the U.S., including the financial matter, acculturation and profits and so on.