Having put substantial investment in shale gas in the U.S., Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) has announced plans to source ethane from North America and ship it to India to attain long-term feedstock supply for its crackers replacing liquids such as naphtha, the present feedstock.
Reliance is implementing a project to source 1.5 million metric tonnes per annum of ethane from the U.S. to feed its crackers in India, the company said on Wednesday.
“The shale gas industry in North America has grown exponentially in the past five years. As a result, ethane has become the dominant feedstock for crackers replacing liquids. Reliance’s investments in shale gas and its existing crackers portfolio in India are a natural fit for sourcing ethane from North America…. to attain long-term feedstock competitiveness,” the company said in a statement. The company has executed storage and capacity agreements for liquefaction and export of ethane with a North American terminal, which is expected to commence operations in the second-half of 2016, it said.
For transporting liquefied ethane to India, Reliance has ordered six Very Large Ethane Carriers, which will be the largest vessels ever built in the world. The ships are expected to be delivered starting last quarter of 2016.
The company is also building a world-scale receiving and storage facility in India for liquefied ethane and pipeline to deliver ethane to its crackers.
