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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Shell Chemicals Plans $1.2 Billion Monoethylene Glycol Plant in Geismar, Louisiana

05/21/2019
Shell Chemicals will advance feasibility plans for a potential $1.2 billion manufacturing expansion at its Shell Geismar facility in Geismar, Louisiana.

At the 841-acre complex in Ascension Parish, Shell Chemical LP would build a world-scale monoethylene glycol plant, pending final engineering, design and investment decisions. Monoethylene glycol, or MEG, is a key ingredient in manufacturing paints, paper, textiles, resins, coolants and adhesives. A decision to proceed with the project could come from Royal Dutch Shell in 2020.

“We at Shell are proud of our long history in Louisiana, and I’m very excited about the positive potential of this project for Shell and for the state,” Shell Chemicals Vice President for Gulf Coast Manufacturing Rhoman Hardy said. “We look forward to working with Governor Edwards and LED as we move toward a final decision.”

“Shell Chemical LP has a more than 50-year history of investment at Geismar that has provided high-quality jobs for decades, and made the site a world-class manufacturing facility,” Governor John Bel Edwards said. “The successful completion of the company’s recent alpha olefins project, combined with this potential expansion, demonstrates to the world that Shell has confidence in Louisiana and recognizes our state’s tremendous physical attributes and our outstanding workforce. Louisiana looks forward to working with Shell Chemical LP to make this investment happen.”

After a 1965 groundbreaking in Ascension Parish, Shell began operating the Geismar chemicals plant in 1967 and completed other major expansions in 1995 and 2002. In December 2018, Shell completed a $717 million expansion that increased its linear alpha olefins capacity by 425,000 tons to a total 1.3 million tons per year. That volume ranks the Geismar plant as the largest single-site manufacturer of alpha olefins in the world. Products at the Shell Geismar site contribute key ingredients for making personal care products, soaps, shampoos and household cleaning solutions.

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