Ethane for Ethylene
American Ethane was one of the first US companies who signed a major ethane sale contract in China. Since opening a regional office in Shanghai in 2015, AEC has arranged and participated in multiple specialized Conferences, including a first-in-kind ethane-dedicated US-China Clean Energy Conference in Beijing in May 2016 with over 300 delegates from petrochemical companies, chemical research and planning institutes, Government Authorities.
AEC Signed Binding Ethane Supply Contracts
American Ethane has conditional binding contracts to supply 7.2 million tons per year of ethane to three ethane-to-ethylene cracker projects in China, which will reduce US-China trade deficit and provide a clean reliable source for plastics to China.
The contract for 2.6 mtpa was signed by American Ethane and Nanshan Group (China) on November 9, 2017 in Beijing in the presence of President Donald Trump and President Xi Jinping. The signing of the American Ethane/Nanshan supply contract was the highlight of the U.S./China Summit.
On December 20, 2017 American Ethane signed the 2nd binding SPA for 2.6 mtpa with Ganergy Heavy Industry Group Co., Ltd from Liaoning Province, China.
On January 30, 2017 American Ethane signed the 3rd binding SPA for 2.0 mtpa with Yangquan Coal Group from Shanxi province, China.
AEC has Completed FEED
American Ethane has completed front end engineering design (FEED) work and determined cost and scope of the U.S. ethane export terminal with annual capacity of 10 million metric tons of LEG at Neches River location in Texas, with 4 trains of 120,000 bbl\d each, one 800,000 bbl liquid ethane storage tank and 2xVLEC docks for the flexibility of scale to meet the requirements of several downstream customers in Asia. FEED study was performed independently by two major EPC firms – S&B Contractors and Engineers (previously built several ethane and propane terminals) and AMEC Foster Wheeler. They proposed Black & Veach and GE Oil & Gas ethane refrigeration technologies.
AEC Guarantees Delivery of Ethane on CIF Terms
American Ethane supply contracts obligates AEC to guarantee the entire ethane supply and delivery all the way to China on CIF terms. In the last four years AEC’s has jointly developed shipping terms and strategy with a group of the World’s leading ship-owners from China, Singapore, Europe, and Japan. Ethene would be delivered in new-built VLEC of 93,000-96,000m3.
Ethane for Power
In 2015 AEC and GE Power entered into a joint-development agreement to promote ethane-to-power concept worldwide and specifically in energy deficient India, Bangladesh and Sri-Lanka. AEC and GE are jointly marketing ethane for large-scale CCGT plants to take advantage over coal and other fuels due to higher fuel efficiency on GE’s latest Gas Turbine of 9H class. Liquefied Ethane Gas (LEG) was more attractive than LNG on per kWh price due to lower infrastructure costs.
Since 2016 GE is developing a 2400 MW power plant in Bangladesh using GE Power’s latest generation 9HA gas turbine engines with efficiency exceeding 60%, for which AEC would exclusively supply 2.5 million tons of ethane under a 22-year power purchase agreement.
Our mission is to deliver US-sourced ethane gas to our customers globally on long-term reliable contracts.
Although ethane was used for decades as a feedstock for petrochemical industry, American Ethane was one of the first companies who realized potential of ethane as next fuel for power generation. In the beginning of US Shale Revolution in early 2010s, our shareholders envisioned the abundance and oversupply of ethane in the USA and the opportunities to export it overseas for power and petrochemicals. As part of our vision and strategy, in 2015 we opened offices Shanghai (China) and Dhaka (Bangladesh) to serve the growing demand for affordable feedstock and source of power for millions of people in the Asian region.
- Ethane is the preferred stock for ethylene production with the highest yield of up to 82% in modern ethane-to-ethylene steam crackers.
- In some markets with lack of infrastructure or limitation of capacity, Ethane is more affordable than LNG for power generation due to cheaper liquefaction, transportation and regasification costs.
- LEG is more feasible than LNG for power generation due to its price formula structure, unlinked from crude oil prices
American ethane provides long-term supply from reliable sources via controlled supply chain, so the customer is assured of the ethane supply to its steam cracker or power plant.
American Ethane is a new company in a new industry run by visionary professionals who have spent their lifetimes innovating in the energy sector.
Headquartered in Houston, American Ethane is developing a state-of-the-art chilling and export facility on the U.S. Gulf Coast that will be able to provide ethane to downstream clients around the world.
John W. Houghtaling
CEO and Member of Board
