Badlands to develop polyethylene plant in North Dakota; NuDevco Midstream to build crude-by-rail terminal in New Mexico

North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple and Badlands NGL L.L.C. Chief Executive Officer William Jeffrey Gilliam on Monday announced Badlands will develop a $4 billion manufacturing plant in the state that will convert ethane into polyethylene, which is used to produce consumer and industrial plastics.

The plant — which involves the largest private industrial investment in North Dakota's history — would tap into the state's abundant supplies of natural gas liquids to source ethane. Projected to take at least three years to fully develop, the facility is expected to produce 3.3 billion pounds of polyethylene annually and employ about 500 people.

"This project is fully aligned with our goals to … add value to our energy resources right here in North Dakota and create diverse job opportunities across the state," said Dalrymple in a press release.
 
Badlands plans to market the majority of the polyethylene products domestically, but some would be offered to markets in Asia, South America and Europe. The plant’s North Dakota location will enable Badlands to transport products to world markets via Pacific Northwest and Atlantic ports, company officials said. Rail will be essential to moving the polyethylene products from the plant, said Badlands spokesperson Shane Goettle in an email.

Badlands is working with Tecnicas Reunidas from Spain and Vinmar Projects from Texas to complete technology evaluations and engineering/planning analyses, and select a site by year's end.

Meanwhile, NuDevco Midstream Development L.L.C. (NMD) on Monday announced it purchased land in Eunice, N.M., to develop a crude oil terminal. The land includes rail spurs and truck sites.

Construction is under way to accommodate additional rail and tank storage. The site targets the western Permian Basin, an area encompassing the western part of Texas and southeastern portion of New Mexico, where demand for crude oil storage and transportation services is increasing, NMD officials said in a press release.

In addition to the land transaction, NMD has continued to purchase assets in the crude oil supply chain, including rail cars, trucks, stabilizer tower units and storage tanks, they said.