CANBERRA: Austrian petrochemicals producer Borealis will import 240,000 mt/year of US shale-based ethane for its crackers in Europe, company CEO Mark Garrett said Wednesday. This will be a fraction of the feedstock requirements of Borealis’ crackers in Europe and the company will leverage a mix feedstock strategy to run its European crackers, Garrett said in a telephone interview.
Borealis’ 625,000 mt/year ethylene capacity cracker in Stenungsund, Sweden, and 400,000 mt/year cracker in Porvoo, Finland, are able to process a mix of feedstocks including liquids, LPG and ethane. In August 2014, Borealis signed a 10-year deal to buy shale-based ethane from US company Antero Resources for cracking in its European crackers. The gas will be sourced from the Marcellus and Utica shale formations. The company has already signed a shipping agreement with Navigator Holdings, a liquefied gas logistics company, to transport ethane from Marcus Hook in the US to Sweden.
