South African-based energy and chemicals company Sasol will proceed with Front-End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase for an integrated, 96,000 bbl/d gas-to-liquids (GTL) facility and a world-scale ethane cracker with downstream derivatives, at its Lake Charles site in Louisiana (United States). The GTL facility, the first of its kind in the US, will produce 4 Mt/year, or 96,000 bbl/d of high quality transportation fuel, including GTL diesel and other value-adding chemical products. Current project costs for the GTL facility are estimated between $11bn and $14bn. The GTL project will be delivered in two phases, with each phase comprising 48,000 bbl/d. The first phase is planned to come into operation in 2018 and the second phase in 2019.
The world-scale ethane cracker will allow Sasol to expand its differentiated ethylene derivatives business in the US. The cracker will also benefit from the current low U.S. natural gas prices and the abundance of ethane. Current cracker project costs are estimated between US$5bn and US$7bn. Sasol expects beneficial operation to be achieved during 2017. It will produce an estimated 1,5 Mt/year of ethylene with downstream derivative plants.