By JACK KASKEY

Chevron Phillips Chemical Co., a joint venture of Chevron and refiner Phillips 66, is considering a second “megaproject” in the US that would take advantage of low natural gas prices for making plastics and other materials.

“We are certainly looking seriously about the possibility of another project in the US," CEO Peter Cella said this week. “This is the right time to get serious about the next project.”

The company is on schedule to begin producing ethylene in mid-2017 at its $6 billion project outside Houston, Cella said in an interview at the American Chemistry Council annual meeting in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He’s looking globally for where to build the next ethylene and derivatives plants, given the multiyear timeline to complete major projects.

The Houston-based company has led a wave of new US facilities that make ethylene, used in plastics to polyester. Plants that use low cost gas from shale formations will help US production of basic chemicals increase for the next four years, starting with a 3.1% rise this year and peaking at 6% in 2018, according to the council.

A rapidly growing middle class in developing regions will boost long-term demand for plastics used in packaging, autos and other applications, Cella said.

About 65 percent of new capacity in the US will be exported, Kevin Swift, chief economist for the industry group, told reporters at the conference. Swift said the US will increase its global share of chemical production, grabbing sales from Europe and Japan, where oil is often used instead of gas.

The drop in oil prices hasn’t erased the cost advantages for the Texas project, Chevron Phillips’ biggest ever, Cella said.

Falling oil prices also have some benefits, including increasing the availability of skilled labor in the wake of energy sector job cuts, he said. That’s reduced the pace of wage-cost inflation and improved the quality of available workers, particularly welders, Cella said.