INEOS expands plan to ship US ethane feedstocks to Norway, Scotland

INEOS has reached an agreement with Evergas to expand its contract for a series of ethane vessels, currently under construction in China, to six vessels.

In January 2013, INEOS agreed a 15-year shipping agreement with Evergas for the transportation of ethane into Europe from the US Mariner East project, as the world’s first US ethane export contract.

INEOS and Evergas have now expanded the agreement to secure additional capacity for long-term shipping of advantageously priced US ethane for INEOS’ European crackers at Rafnes and Grangemouth.

INEOS will be the first company to establish seaborne intercontinental ethane transportation, having earlier announced agreements with Sunoco Logistics for capacity in the Mariner East pipeline and terminal system and with Range Resources and CONSOL Energy for the purchase of ethane. Evergas will provide customized vessels for the transportation.

INEOS also confirmed that it has reached an agreement with Enterprise Products for ethane capacity at their recently-reported ethane export facility on the Texas Gulf coast.

The design and build of highly advanced, sustainable vessels has been an important consideration in supporting INEOS’ competitive business model.

"Having worked successfully with Evergas for more than a decade, we are very confident that these vessels will provide long term security and competitiveness of our feedstock supplies," said David Thompson, CEO of INEOS Trading & Shipping.

The new vessels will enter into service in 2015. They are tailored to meet the specific needs of the project and will be built to the latest specifications matching highest environmental and efficiency performance measures. They are the largest, most flexible and advanced multigas carriers yet to be built, according to INEOS officials. 

The carriers are expected to provide INEOS with a flexible solution for their ethane supplies with the option of transporting LNG, LPG as well as petrochemical gases, including ethylene.

“The advanced design of these vessels offers very high efficiency and unparalleled flexibility to INEOS securing the longevity and strong position of their business," said Martin Ackermann, CEO of Evergas.

The dual-fuelled vessels will use clean LNG in state of the art engines securing high efficiency, low emissions and reduced fuel cost.