North America downstream news

W. R. Grace & Co. has completed a US$416 million acquisition of the Polyolefin Catalysts business of Albemarle Corp.

Fluor has been awarded a construction contract for MEGlobal’s new monoethylene glycol facility in Freeport, Texas.

According to a GlobalData report, merger and acquisition deals in the downstream sector totalled $21.1 billion in 2H17, down from $26.2 billion in 1H17.

If completed the expansion could increase polypropylene manufacturing capacity at the new facility by up to 450 000 tpy.

The acquisition was ratified by the Federal Trade Commission, which gave early termination of the waiting period stipulated by US antitrust legislation.

RES Polyflow’s plant in Indiana will convert plastic waste into ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel and naphtha blend stocks, which will then be purchased by BP for regional distribution in the petroleum market.

The executive search firm for the global energy industry has hired Jonathan Verlander as Partner and DeLynn Mitchell as Principal to bolster its US presence.

Freeport LNG is seeking permission to export 262.8 billion ft3 of LNG over 20 years to countries with and without a Free Trade Agreement with the US.

The company may export LNG over 30 years to Free Trade Agreement (FTA) nations and over 20 years to non-FTA nations.

The federal agency intends to release a draft environmental impact statement in March next year and a final statement on 9 December 2019.