<article><p>Chevron Phillips Chemical's Port Arthur, Texas olefins unit will restart by the end of the year, Phillips 66 executives stated on the company's earnings call today. The Port Arthur plant can produce up to 807,000 t/yr of ethylene.</p><p>Phillips 66 reported chemical profits of $230mn during the third quarter, down 12pc from last year, because of unplanned downtime at Port Arthur. Overall, its olefins business contributed $254mn in profits at utilization rates of 83pc. </p><p>Its specialty chemicals, aromatics and styrenics segment reported an $18mn loss in the quarter, which included $64mn in asset impairments. Aromatics and styrenics saw a $25mn increase in adjusted earnings to $46mn, driven by lower turnaround activity.</p><p>The startup of a tenth olefins furnace at its Sweeny, Texas facility is on track to begin operations in the fourth quarter.</p><p>Chevron Phillips continues to consider new US construction projects, including whether to build a new ethylene cracker, but those discussions are still early in the process and no decisions have been made, executives said on the call today.</p><p>"We still think the US Gulf coast is still the best place to invest, and we wouldn't hesitate to go forward with a second cracker. But the challenge is where do you put it and what are you going to feed it," said chief executive Greg Garland.</p><p>als/dcb</p><p> Send comments to <a href="mailto:feedback@argusmedia.com" target="_parent"> feedback@argusmedia.com </a></p><br><br><p> If you would like to review other ArgusMedia.com content options, <u><a href="http://info.argusmedia.com/mailers/News/sectortrial.html?ref=webnews" target="_TOP"> request more information </a></u> about Argus' energy news, data and analysis services. </p><p><i> Copyright © 2014 Argus Media Ltd - <a href="http://www.argusmedia.com/" target="_TOP"> www.ArgusMedia.com </a> - All rights reserved. </i></p></article>
