Petchems Report: US a petchems hotbed while Europe struggles

Low-cost ethane has made the US a premier destination for petchems investments, while in Europe the industry faces economic headwinds

The US has added a significant amount of new petrochemical production capacity since the shale gas boom. Cheap, abundant ethane has enabled producers to increase margins versus other naphtha-based crackers. This has turned the US into a hotbed destination for new petrochemical plant investments. However, the days of large-scale ethane cracker investments are nearing their end. The only two major ethylene and derivative complexes under development in the US are the 2mt/yr petrochemical complex project being developed by Golden Triangle—a joint venture between Chevron Phillips Chemical and QatarEnergy—and PTTGC’s Ohio cracker project. PTTGC announced in September 2023 that it still supported t