A Different Kind of Lobbyist

My network is your opportunity

How Shell plans to use Rail and Road to Capitalize on Beaver County Opportunities

By

How Shell plans to use rail and road to capitalize on opportunities in Beaver County
Nov 27, 2018, 1:43pm EST
Subscriber-Only Article Preview | For full site access: Subscribe Now
Quench 28
PAUL J. GOUGH
The quench tower almost completely in place around noon.

Shell Polymers — the division of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.A) that will market and ship the polyethylene from the company’s new plant in Beaver County — counts location and transportation opportunities as major competitive advantages over its competitors.

The bulk of the country’s petrochemical industry is based along the Gulf Coast, far away from the shale fields of Pennsylvania. But it’s also more expensive to ship the polyethylene, the building blocks of plastics products, to the customer base in the Midwest and Northeast.

That’s where the Shell plant offers reliably sourced polyethylene and a more nimble transportation infrastructure, said O. Chris Jackson, production unit manager for logistics at Shell Polymers. Jackson said the Shell plant will be within 700 miles of the customer base and will be connected not only by rail but also by road.

“That puts us closer to our customers,” Jackson said.

It means a shorter supply line but also, in the case of pipeline or railroad disruptions, it positions the polyethylene that comes out of Beaver County to be a quicker alternative than supply lines that depend on rail access. Jackson said customers said it could take between four and five weeks to secure a rail car, which forces petrochemical plants to curtail or shutdown production.

That’s where Shell’s new system works well. While the bulk of product transport will be by rail, Shell built 42 loading bays on the Potter Township site that will allow it to offer customers the ability to get the polyethylene by truck in only a day or two. That will allow Shell’s manufacturing customers to not be constrained by traditional supply delays, thanks to the location of the plant and the ability to ship by either road or rail.

“This kind of operation can flourish in this region,” Jackson said. Jackson spoke at the Tri-State Infrastructure Summit in Cranberry Township.

Shell has made significant investments in both rail and road, even moving a state highway that would have cut through the site of the plant.

Paul J. Gough
Reporter
Pittsburgh Business Times

Shell hosting Jobs Event about Cracker plant opportunities

By

From the Pittsburgh Business Times:
https://www.bizjournals.com/pittsburgh/news/2017/10/05/shell-ccbc-to-host-events-about-cracker-plant-jobs.html

Shell, CCBC to host events about cracker plant jobs

Oct 5, 2017, 8:15am EDT
shell project

SHELL CHEMICAL APPALACHIA

Graham Hoff, Executive Vice President for Royal Dutch Shell’s global Chemicals business, at the site of the ethane cracker project in Potter Township, Beaver County. The company will host two career events in partnership with Community College of Beaver County.

The Community College of Beaver County will host two events next week in partnership with Shell to highlight jobs available at the $6 billion-dollar ethane cracker plant under construction in Potter Township.

On Oct. 12, a career forum called Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals Military Petrochemical Day will be held from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. in room 9103 of CCBC’s Learning Resources Center. The event is open to former service members and will describe the cracker plant project, skills transferable to jobs there, the application process and educational scholarship opportunities.

The second event that day at 6 p.m. in the CCBC Dome is a free career expo, open to the public, designed to inform residents about all the current and emerging job opportunities.

Our goal for the expo is to educate attendees about the types of jobs our facility will provide so people can take necessary steps to prepare, said Shell spokesman Joe Minnitte.  This event will give residents facts about local training programs, types of jobs within our facility, and access to other employers in the region.

An estimated 6,000 workers from building and construction trades will be needed during the cracker plant’s construction phase, expected to last through the second half of 2021. Once operational, 600 permanent full-time jobs are expected to remain at the plant in career areas such as process technology, engineering and maintenance.

Veterans can register online for the Shell Pennsylvania Chemicals Military Petrochemical Day.

For the career expo, interested attendees are also encouraged to RSVP online.

Stacey Federoff
Digital Producer
Pittsburgh Business Times

Majority support Cracker Plant in Beaver County PA

By

http://triblive.com/news/beaver/8314036-74/plant-shell-beaver#axzz3ZMkv87Bn   This article does not mention en estimated 20 speakers who were in favor of the Cracker Facility.   The Beaver County Chamber of Commerce, Allegheny Conference, and the Beaver County Commissioners were among those testifying for the cracker plant but not recognized in this article.