Saudi Aramco’s US downstream subsidiary Motiva plans to add multiple world-scale ethylene derivatives to its proposed mixed-feed cracker to be integrated with its 635,000 b/d Port Arthur refinery on the US Gulf coast. In a recent filing to the Texas Comptroller’s Office Motiva proposes beginning construction of the plants in the 4Q 2020 with a view to completion on 4Q 2024. Motiva has already submitted proposals for a world-scale cracker at the site, targeting a late-2022 start-up, and has also signed a deal with US firm Flint Hills to buy a 785,000 t/y cracker located alongside the refinery (MEES, 23 August). Flint Hills sells output from its cracker to other petchems firms for further processing and Motiva has not indicated whether it intends to process this ethylene itself in the long term. Assuming Motiva’s planned new cracker will have around 1.6mn t/y capacity, the company would have almost 2.4mn t/y of available ethylene output at Port Arthur – enough to process into 2mn t/y of polyethylene.