The U.S. government wants to help build a petrochemical hub in Appalachia, one that could rival, or complement, the concentration of petrochemical facilities on the Gulf Coast. The shale gas bonanza over the past decade has led to a tidal wave of cheap natural gas, which has resulted in shuttered coal-fired power plants, new gas-fired generation and even LNG export terminals. It has also led to a proliferation of pipelines, processing facilities and chemical complexes. Much of the gas is coming from the Marcellus and Utica Shales, located in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio. While a lot of the gas is burned in the region for heating and electricity, the thousands of shale wells in the region are located far from the downstream facilities on the Gulf Coast that turn gas into plastics and fertilizers. However, that is set to change. Royal Dutch Shell gave the greenlight to a […]