Sasol: All eyes on Lake Charles project cracker status
Progress continues on the company’s Lake Charles cracker complex project, which the company estimates is 81% complete, with capital expenditure standing at $8.8bn. The project is proceeding on time and remains within the current budget guidance of $11.13bn.
The complex is likely to be the last investment by Sasol at that scale for some time, after a $2bn upward revision to the Lake Charles budget in mid-2016 on the back of labour costs and delays was compounded by an additional $130m increase due to the impact of Hurricane Harvey. The company said in November 2017 that it is to focus on projects with a price tag of between $500m and $1bn for the foreseeable future until it has built a sufficient track record on successfully executing lower-budget projects.
Recent US tax reforms are likely to boost returns from the project. South African petrochemicals group Sasol expects half-year profit to lift as much as 6% on the back of higher crude oil prices, the firm said on Tuesday
(contributor Tanisha Heiberg, Reuters and Pearl Bantillo, ICIS news)
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