ST. CLAIRSVILLE — The Belmont and Monroe County commissioners see good signs in the future of PTT Global Chemical’s operations in the area now that a storage hub is being proposed to support an ethane cracker plant many are hoping to see built in Dillies Bottom.

On Wednesday morning, the Belmont County commissioners referred to a press release just issued from PTT, announcing PTT’s agreement with Mountaineer NGL Storage to provide infrastructure for the proposed cracker plant. The NGL facility would provide storage and transportation services for the proposed plant. The facility will be the first underground NGL storage site in the heart of the Marcellus and Utica shale formations.

Mountaineer will develop the underground salt caverns for NGL storage on a 200-acre site in Monroe County. The site, owned and operated by Mountaineer, is located approximately eight miles south of Dilles Bottom. PTT is working with Mountaineer on one million barrels of ethane storage and a pipeline that will link the storage facility to the project.

“Ethane storage and transportation will be a crucial element of a world-scale petrochemical complex,” PTT President and CEO Toasaporn Boonyapipat said. “Mountaineer NGL Storage will provide essential infrastructure and capabilities to our project. Our impending partnership with this first-rate organization brings us one step closer to a final investment decision. We deeply appreciate all the support we have received from our federal, state and local partners, including Belmont and Monroe counties, which have brought us to this point.”

“We are pleased to partner with PTTGCA as it works toward the development of the second petrochemical plant to be located in the Ohio River Valley,” said David Hooker, president of Mountaineer NGL Storage. “Our storage facility will have an important role in managing the plant’s supply portfolio, along with offering PTTGCA and other prospective customers an option to manage seasonal and operational demand with competitive locally priced production. The PTTGCA team has been great to work with, and we look forward to a long and successful relationship.”

This comes after an announcement last week that PTT’s then-partner Daelim Chemical USA was withdrawing from the partnership. Officials expressed optimism in Wednesday’s announcement that the long-discussed cracker plant project will still become a reality.

“I think this is another great step, obviously, despite the news last week,” Belmont County Commissioner J.P. Dutton said. “They’re committed to moving forward with the projects. Mountaineer Storage provides a critical component to the future of this project. … I think this is positive news and we’ll continue to see more positive news in the future.”

“It’s a hopeful sign that from here on out, things will get better and better,” Commissioner Jerry Echemann said.

“I think it’s a great sign that PTT is saying they are still committed to the project,” Commissioner Josh Meyer said. “It’s a positive step, despite all the negative news that has been going on. … Hopefully in the very near future, we’ll hear another positive announcement.”

The $250 million storage facility will be developed in two phases by creating multiple caverns in the existing underground salt formation. Each cavern will be capable of storing approximately 500,000 barrels of NGLs, including propane, butane, ethane and ethylene.

“It’s very good news. We’ve been waiting patiently to hear some positive input from the PTT cracker, and I know that Mountaineer NGL was waiting to see what their efforts were moving forward,” Monroe County Commissioner Mick Schumacher said. “I think there are some things happening behind the scenes that we aren’t aware of, and they’re happy Mountaineer is moving forward. PTT is in Belmont County, but Mountaineer is in Monroe. … We just don’t want to think of jobs on a county level, we want to think of it as regional, and whatever we can do to help bolster the regional economy is good for everybody.”

Mountaineer has obtained all required permits to begin construction of Phase 1 of the project – approximately 1.5 million barrels – which will take two to three years to complete. An additional 1.5 million barrels is planned for Phase 2, which will bring the total capacity to approximately 3 million barrels. Additional expansion capabilities are available, subject to market demand. With the support of the State of Ohio and the local community in Monroe County, the Mountaineer project will set new standards for safely building and operating an NGL storage facility.

“It is great news for Monroe County to see that development going forward,” Monroe County Commissioner Carl Davis said. “It does give us the assurance that plans for the PTT Global project are still progressing. … With all the obstacles that have come up, it’s good to see PTT signing on to it.”