Badlands NGL announced the development of a North Dakota manufacturing plant that will convert ethane, a by-product of natural gas processing, into polyethylene (PE), the state governor's office announced this week.

Badlands NGL, LLC, and its partners expect to invest $4 billion to build the polyethylene manufacturing facility in North Dakota. The project will be the largest private investment in state history.

The value-added manufacturing plant will tap into North Dakota’s abundant supplies of liquid natural gas to source ethane. The facility will convert ethane gas to low-density and high-density plastics, which are used to make a wide range of end products for consumers and industry.

The facility will be able to produce 1.5 million tpy of polyethylene, or 3.3 billion lb/year, and will employ 500 highly trained people in manufacturing, marketing, administrative, safety, financial and executive positions. 

The project will take at least three years for full development.

Badlands intends to market the majority of the polyethylene products domestically, but product will also find its way to markets in Asia, South America and Europe. Project developers say that the plant’s location in North Dakota will enable them to efficiently ship to world markets from the Pacific Northwest and from Atlantic ports.

“Badlands is proud to bring this manufacturing facility to North Dakota,” said William Jeffrey Gilliam, CEO of Badlands NGL. “We are committed to maximizing the value of Bakken ethane for producers, their midstream partners and all gas processors. This facility is the solution needed to add value to North Dakota’s ethane supply and make it a commercially marketable product.

“North Dakota elected officials and agencies have provided Badlands with by far the most business-friendly and pro-development environment in the United States, Gilliam added. “We have been fortunate to attract many of North Dakota’s leading business and community leaders as Badlands investors, and we continue to discuss debt and equity capital markets needs with major financial institutions.”

In developing the world-class manufacturing plant, Badlands is working with two strategic partners, Tecnicas Reunidas (TR), which is based in Madrid, Spain, as well as Vinmar Projects of Houston, Texas. 

TR, one of the largest petrochemicals and polymers contractors in the world, is completing a preliminary engineering analysis for Badlands. This work is scheduled for completion in 2014 and will include technologyevaluations, engineering and planning, and final site selection.