McDermott Handpicked for Engineering and Procurement Phase of Ethylene Cracker for Russia’s Mega Project

A letter of guarantee has been signed by the USA-based engineering and construction solutions provider, McDermott International Ltd., securing itself the mega Gas Chemical Complex (GCC) deal that requires it to deliver engineering and procurement for the ethylene cracker of the GCC project. The GCC project, owned by Baltic Chemical Complex, a subsidiary of RusGazDobycha, located onshore Russia in the Gulf of Finland, is touted to be the largest polyethylene integration project in the world with China National Chemical Engineering and Construction Corp.

McDermott will look to the successful and sound delivery of the front end engineering design (FEED) and the start-up phase of the project. In addition to the FEED delivery, the company will be responsible for field engineering, author supervision as well as supplying the necessary equipment for a two train ethane cracker unit with an installed capacity of 2.8 million tonnes per year of ethylene licensed by Lummus Technology. McDermott after its collaboration with Lummus Technology Holdings LLC boasts reinforced technological expertise and in-house project delivery capability.

Ethylene is the most important raw material in the petrochemical industry, as it is the building block for manufacturing various grades of plastics. Ethylene is also used to produce ethylene glycol (used in antifreeze, paints etc.), polyvinyl chloride (used in construction and plumbing), polystyrene (used in textiles and rubber-producing industries) and many other organic materials.

As per ChemAnalyst, ethylene market has witnessed tremendous growth in the last five years. The ethylene demand is expected to stay high in the coming years with a growth rate of over 6% owing to its extensive use in the manufacturing of plastics that have entrenched in almost every sector of our society. The mega project is going to strengthen the regional petrochemical base and is expected to raise the ethylene supplies to manifolds that will easily suffice the growing demand for ethylene. On the downside, the oversupply of ethylene may lead to weak downstream margins and the project may have to face backlash due to strict environmental laws.