Williams Partners' expanded Geismar plant sees unexpected delay in final stages of commissioning

04-Feb-15

Williams Partners' expanded Geismar plant is expected to begin manufacturing ethylene for sale in February after experiencing an unexpected delay in the final stages of commissioning. The plant was taken down from its final ramp-up procedure after it was determined that a brazed aluminum heat exchanger became plugged requiring cleaning and maintenance. This additional and unanticipated work is complete, and the plant will be turned back over to operations today to resume start-up. Capacity at the expanded Geismar plant is 1.95 bln lbs of ethylene per year. Williams Partners’ share of the total capacity of the expanded plant is approximately 1.7 bln lbs per year. “We are focused on safely bringing the plant into sustainable operations, restoring the reliable supply of olefins to our customers,” said John Dearborn, senior vice president, Williams’ NGL & Petchem Services. Williams owns controlling interest in and is the general partner of Williams Partners. The partnership said it will provide an additional update on the status of the plant’s operations on or before a scheduled Feb. 19 investor conference call.