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Capitalizing On Local Cracker

It appears the stage is set for construction of an ethane cracker plant in Belmont County. As we reported Sunday, very few traces of the old R.E. Burger power plant remain at the site of the proposed new facility.

Good for local and state officials, but primarily First Energy, which owned the power plant, for making that happen.

But PTT Global Chemical, which is behind the cracker proposal, has yet to reveal a final decision on it.

For some time, the Thai company had maintained it would make its decision very early in 2017. But the timetable has been pushed to March.

Reportedly, company officials have said the delay is due to the death of Thailand’s king earlier this year. That event lent uncertainty to the country’s future, much as Americans wondered in advance of the Nov.  8 presidential election how both domestic and international affairs would be handled by our government.

Last week, a new Thai king was named. PTT officials now have an idea of how their country’s government will be handled in the future.

They, and we, also have clues concerning U.S. government policies, as a result of Donald Trump’s election as president. Clearly, the Trump administration will be more favorable to enterprises such as ethane crackers than either the current White House or Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.

For one thing, “slow walking” of federal approvals needed to build many natural gas pipelines is expected to end. That should allow the stalled gas drilling boom in our area to resume. It also would ensure crackers such as PTT’s can rely on supplies of gas.

So the stage is set. That may well mean it is time for both local governments on both sides of the Ohio River and state officials in Columbus and Charleston to kick preparations for capitalizing from the PTT cracker into high gear.

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