Chevron Phillips Chemical today announced the start-up of a new 1-hexene plant at its Cedar Bayou Chemical Complex in Baytown, Texas. With a capacity of 250,000 metric tons per year, the unit is the largest 1-hexene plant in the world. It is the third plant to use Chevron Phillips’ proprietary 1-hexene technology — other plants using the technology are Qatar Chemical Co.’s facility in Mesaieed, Qatar, and the Saudi Polymers Co. plant in Al Jubail, Saudi Arabia. Both plants are joint ventures of Chevron Phillips subsidiaries.
“Our investment to expand 1-hexene production is due in part to Texas’ growth as a major international hub for the petrochemical industry and the increased supply of competitive feedstocks in the U.S. from the development of shale resources,” said Chevron Phillips CEO Pete Cella.
