Consol Energy’s CEO, Nick Deluliis, thinks that there will be two cracker plants built in this area, neither of which is located in West Virginia.

The advantages that a cracker plant in the area would have include a ridiculous amount of available ethane and proximity to 50 percent of the demand for ethylene and plastics (the products of a cracker plant).  By proximity, he means within 500 miles.  And apparently 80 percent of the demand exists within 1000 miles.

Yet we can’t seem to get a cracker plant built in this state.  I can understand that the Pennsylvania location is a little better than the West Virginia location in some ways, but the Ohio location isn’t any better than the West Virginia location.

If Odebrecht isn’t going to be able to put a cracker plant in, we need to find some other company — and I’m sure the companies that have the ability to build and operate one of these plants are few in number — that can build it.