US Gulf Coast

Between 2015 and 2018 five new U.S. propane dehydrogenation (PDH) plants are expected online – producing over 9 billion pounds a year of propylene. Williams are building another new PDH plant in western Canada. Five of these plants will be located on the Texas Gulf Coast – the center of the world’s chemical industry. Once they are up and running they should have a profound impact on U.S. and international markets for propane and propylene. Today we describe plans to develop these new plants.

New and proposed projects to build condensate splitters along the Gulf Coast – including the first one due online at Kinder Morgan’s Galena Park facility in Houston this June, will output more than 60 percent naphtha. Unlike most refineries, stand-alone condensate splitters have little flexibility of feedstock or outputs so their economics rely on finding strong demand for naphtha. Today we discuss possible sources of naphtha demand.

Gulf Coast diesel cracks (margins over crude) have averaged $8/Bbl more than gasoline for the past two years. As a result, Gulf Coast refiners have been producing more diesel than gasoline for the first time since records began. US demand for diesel has remained flat but exports have boomed. Diesel has been a shining light for US Gulf refiners at a time when their colleagues on the East Coast and in Europe are heading for the exits. Today we examine the diesel boom and where it is headed.