Petrochemicals

Cheniere Energy, Inc. is a Texas-based energy company primarily engaged in liquid natural gas (LNG)-related businesses.

The company has initiated a project to develop a $13 billion LNG terminal in San Patricio County, which is being designed and permitted for up to three modular LNG trains, with aggregate peak capacity of up to 15 mtpa. The facility will include three 160,000 m3 full containment storage tanks and two LNG carrier docks. Commencement of construction for the Stage 1 LNG terminal is in the second year of contruction. Cheniere is based in Houston, Texas, with offices in Johnson Bayou, Louisiana, Corpus Christi, Texas, and London, U.K.
Learn more about Liquefied Natural Gas at Our Energy Moment website

Voestalpine is investing $740 million in a natural gas based direct reduction plant in San Patricio County, with an annual capacity of 2 million metric tons of Hot Briquetted Iron (HBI). HBI is a high-grade feedstock for the production of superior-quality steel grades. Half of the production volume will be shipped to voestalpine’s existing Austrian steel mills in Linz and Donawitz for the production of sophisticated steel grades. The remainder will serve as a strategic reserve and will also be sold to partners interested in longer-term contracts. voestalpine celebrated their groundbreaking in April of 2014 and have an expected start-up date near the end of 2015. The calculated additional economic impact to the region is $650 million.

Occidental Chemical (OxyChem) is one of the world’s leading producers of industrial chemicals. Its 1200-acre Ingleside plant is strategically located on the Texas Gulf Coast, with excellent dock, pipeline and rail facilities that feed both domestic and international trade routes. OxyChem’s chloralkali plant opened in 1977 and has since expanded significantly. Upgrades since the original structure was built include a $40 million ethylene dichloride (EDC) plant in 1989; a $300 million vinyl chloride monomer (VCM) plant in 1990 with a $150 million expansion in 1997; and a $200 million co-generation power plant in 1999. OxyChem employs 240 full-time and 170 contract employees. Its parent company, Occidental Petroleum Company, the largest oil producer in Texas, recently purchased heavy docking facilities at the former Naval Station Ingleside from the Port of Corpus Christi for $82 million, where hundreds more will be employed in construction and operations.

The Chemours plant in San Patricio County is an integral part of the company’s commitment to the fluorochemical market. In 1990, the plant, which is located in Ingleside, started up the world’s first HFC-134a facility, and another larger world-scale facility started up in 1993. The HFC-152a process began operation in 1996. These products affect the daily lives of virtually all Americans, and much of the world for that matter… 50% of all vehicles in the U.S. and some 20% in the world use air conditioning coolant produced by Chemours in Ingleside. The 151-acre site employs at least 200 Chemours and 75 contract employees.

Flint Hills Resources has owned a terminal and dock in Ingleside since 1990. In 2011, the company purchased a small craft pier and related wharf from the Port of Corpus Christi and spent $35 million to improve the dock. The dock went into service in July 2012 and is capable of loading 200,000 barrels of crude and condensate per day onto barges for delivery to other facilities along the Gulf of Mexico. During the past decade, Flint Hills Resources has invested more than $100 million into its existing Ingleside facility.

Flint Hills Resources, LLC, through its subsidiaries, is a leading refining, chemicals and biofuels company. It has expanded its operations through capital projects and acquisitions worth more than $7.6 billion since 2002. With more than 4,000 employees, Flint Hill Resources strives to create value for customers and society. In 2012, the company had more than 1,500 employees in Texas, with the majority in Corpus Christi, and paid about $204 million in compensation and benefits. These employees supported an additional 13,367 jobs and more than $553 million in compensation and benefits.