Cracker plant in Beaver County could be sold as Shell looks to offload chemical assets

Shell is considering a sale of its chemical assets in the U.S. and Europe, including the cracker plant in Beaver County.

The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the matter, has reported one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies could offload its less-profitable chemicals division as part of an ongoing strategic review.

Private equity and Middle Eastern companies could be among interested buyers, WSJ reported.

Shell declined to comment.

Shell Polymers Monaca, as the Potter Township facility is known, uses ethane, a natural gas product, to produce polyethylene, a type of plastic primarily used for single-use bags, saran wrap and other everyday items.

It’s the first of its kind in the Northeastern U.S., according to Shell, with a designed output of 1.6 million tons annually.

It has also been plagued by operational failures, environmental complaints and underwhelming economic impact numbers since it opened in 2019.

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, Shell exceeded its emission limitations repeatedly between October 2022 and April 2023, while receiving several flaring violations for noxious smells coming from the plant.

In May 2023, state officials announced a settlement with Shell Chemicals Appalachia in which the company acknowledged the over-emissions, agreeing to pay a $4.9 million civil penalty and spend $5 million on local environmental projects.

And in February 2024, a Beaver County man sued the company in federal court, alleging Shell continued violating pollution standards, even after its spat with the state’s environment watchdog. The case was referred to mediation in December.

Rosy economic projections have not materialized, either, at least according to the Ohio River Valley Institute. The progressive think tank released a report in 2023 that found Beaver County’s declining GDP was not significantly buoyed by the plant’s construction, which started in 2012, or its operation.

A 2021 report by Robert Morris University and commissioned by Shell painted a different picture, predicting between $260 million to $846 million in annual economic activity spurred by the plant, depending on the number of people employed. As of 2023, the plant has about 600 workers.