Ingleside OxyChem $1B expansion approved

INGLESIDE – Fueled by an abundance of natural gas from the shale boom, Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OxyChem) is planning a $1 billion expansion at its Ingleside plant on SH 361 near Corpus Christi.

Construction is expected to begin this year, at its peak generating 1,700 construction jobs and eventually adding about 150 permanent jobs to the Corpus Christi area once it is operational in 2017.

The permit allows the company to build an ethylene cracker facility to feed its production of a chemical used to manufacture plastics.

OxyChem’s cracker unit will break down ethane — a component of natural gas — into ethylene, nearly all of which will be used in its production of a chemical, which will then be sold to Mexichem, a chemical products company headquartered in Mexico, to produce PVC resin and piping systems.

The cracker unit is OxyChem’s second major project planned in the area.

In April, the company got approval from the EPA to build a proposed natural gas liquids fractionation plant, a facility that separates valuable components of natural gas. The company also has proposed a propane export facility for the old Naval Station Ingleside property.

Read more at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.