Air Liquide to Open New $140M ASU in Texas

As part of a newly-formed agreement to supply oxygen and nitrogen to a new ethane cracker under development in Corpus Christi, TX, French industrial gases firm Air Liquide intends to invest about $140 million to construct a new Air Separation Unit (ASU) in Bay City, TX.

The company announced on July 9 that it entered into a long-term supply agreement with Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV), a 50/50 joint venture between SABIC and ExxonMobil, to supply the ethane cracker with 2000 tn/day of oxygen and 900 tn/day of nitrogen. Once operational, the Corpus Christi site will have a capacity of 1.8 million tn/yr. 

“This long-term agreement and investment in the new Bay City, TX ASU, further demonstrates Air Liquide’s strong position and extensive capabilities in the Gulf Coast region of the U.S. and its commitment to providing customers with sustainable, high-quality solutions to meet their growing needs safely, reliably, and with excellence,” said Michael Graff, Air Liquide Group Vice President and member of the firm’s Executive Committee, in a press release.

In addition to the new ASU, Air Liquide plans to build about eight miles of pipeline to connect the GCGV facility to the firm’s Gulf Coast Pipeline System. The company said the new capacity will enable it to modernize its assets and increase efficiency. 

“The production capacity from the Bay City ASU, and its connection to Air Liquide’s extensive pipeline network along the Gulf Coast, will enable Air Liquide to retire older, less efficient assets,” the French firm said in the release.

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