OREANDA-NEWS. Total Petrochemicals USA is proceeding with a proposal to build a new 1mn t/yr ethylene cracker in Port Arthur, Texas.

The company filed an environmental permit application with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the US Army Corps of Engineers earlier this week.

"The site for this project has not been finalized but given the length of the permitting process, we elected to file this application for one of the potential sites, Port Arthur, well in advance," Total said.

Port Arthur is one of the two locations Total is reviewing as the cracker's location.

According to the filing, Total projects the start of construction to be 1 June 2016 with a projected completion date of 1 June 2019.