BD output at Houston plant up 10pc: TPC CEO

TPC Group's butadiene (BD) production rates have risen by 10pc amid improved reliability following recent maintenance work, according to TPC's chief executive.

"Additional expansion is planned for next year to be done around mid-year," chief executive Ed Dineen told Argus during an interview at this week's AFPM conference in San Antonio, Texas. "BD rates are ballpark 10pc higher now at Houston."

The added capacity will allow TPC Group's Houston plant to produce more than the combined output at its Port Neches and Houston plants before a 2019 Port Neches incident.

TPC permanently closed its 425,000 metric tonne/yr BD plant in Port Neches in November 2019 following the fire. In 2022, TPC Group's Houston plant had an estimated 415,000t/yr BD nameplate capacity. Dineen did not provide actual production figures.

Since the closure of the Port Neches plant, TPC's production has benefited from a third-party CC4 processing agreement with BASF-Total Petrochemicals (BTP). The agreement started in early 2021 where it supplied CC4 to BTP and received the BD and raffinate-1 streams in return.

The agreement with BTP is set for six years and expansions within the contract have been done on a small scale to increase flow of product, Dineen said.

TPC Group has grown volumes in mid-2021, mid-2022 and again during the first quarter of 2023. The agreement with BTP has helped the company restore capacity that was lost after the Port Neches plant closed.

TPC Group has already started discussions with BTP about extending and expanding their processing agreement.

The company's throughput could surpass Port Neches' pre-closure output by mid-2024, with higher capacity at the Houston site along with increasing flows to BTP.

In May 2022, TPC Group reopened its BD pipeline near Orange, Texas, which has provided increased reliability to customers in the area. The company also completed its planned increase of BD and raffinate storage tankage at the Port Neches facility in 2022. The facility still functions as a storage facility and it has additional capacity for growth, he said. TPC Group has seen indications of interest from customers and it can provide additional storage if the demand is there, Dineen said.

Structural changes opening new opportunities

In June 2022, TPC Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection citing a series of "unprecedented events", such as the Port Neches incident, the Covid-19 pandemic, surging inflation and a 2021 winter storm. In December 2022, the company completed its Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization with the support of new owners.

TPC Group achieved all its restructuring objectives and brought its approximately $1.3bn of secured funded debt and liabilities down to $350mn.

"Throughout the whole process, we never stepped back on our stewardship program," Dineen said.

TPC Group has invested $220mn over the last five years in these categories and is planning to invest more, he said.

"Historically, there was not a chance for new big projects", Dineen said, but with the support of new owners, TPC Group is exploring ways to grow and expand. Looking forward, the company is discussing ways to keep increasing capacity at the Houston plant as well as looking at potential new projects in east Texas or Louisiana during the 2029-2030 timeframe.

By Catherine Rabe