Editorial comment

Adrienne Blume, Editor

New gas processing project announcements have slowed due to energy price uncertainty and the downturn in the oil market. High construction costs have pressured projects for most industry segments, leading to project suspensions, delays in final investment decisions and cancellations for some projects. 

However, examining the new projects announced between June 2014 and June 2016 provides a good estimate of the trend in gas processing project activity worldwide. Table 1 shows new gas processing projects announced around the world between mid-2014 and mid-2016, according to the June 2016 Hydrocarbon Processing Construction Boxscore survey.

Meanwhile, the total number of global gas processing projects (not shown in the table) fell by 23 between June 2015 and June 2016, to 459 total projects. Although a decline was seen in the announcement of new gas processing projects, the drop was much smaller than the decrease of 112 projects seen between June 2014 and June 2015.

The gas processing projects that are ongoing and recently announced include many upgrades, revamps and retrofits. The articles in this issue’s special focus examine how process optimization, efficiency gains and cost savings can be achieved with plant revamps. Cost effectiveness is key when planning such projects, especially during a down cycle. Smart engineering design is key to achieving cost effectiveness, as discussed in a case study of an NGL plant revamp in the Middle East. 

Revamps can also give a boost to economics by capitalizing on resurgence in specific markets. Another case study examines an upgrade of a gas-to-methanol plant on the US Gulf Coast that was implemented to take advantage of renewed interest in gas-to-methanol for chemicals production, on the back of the sharp growth in shale gas production in the US. 

More in-depth information on project announcements, construction progress, budgets and spending for in-progress and planned gas processing and LNG/FLNG projects can be found in Hydrocarbon Processing’s HPI Market Data 2017 annual report, published in October. Please visit www.gulfpub.com for more information. GP