762 MINERALS YEARBOOK, 1967 
 
 The petrochemical industry added about 4.5 billion pounds of new ethylene
capacity in 1967, a gain of about 38 percent over the existing 12-billion-pound
capacity. The industry likewise showed interest in xylene isomers, particularly
orthoxylene and paraxylene. Output of orthoxylene was 333 mulion pounds in
1966 and paraxylene a record 513 million pounds, according to latest data
of the U.S. Tariff Commission. 
 Important petrochemical construction projects in 1967 were as follows: American
Oil Co. raised the aromatics capacity of its Texas City refinery to 47,500
barrels per day with a BTX unit and began construction of a new 500-million-pound-peryear
styrene monomer unit to be completed in 1969. Amoco Chemicals Corp. was building
a 23-million-gallon-per-year polybutenes unit at the Texas City complex.
Celanese Chemical Co., the world's largest producer of formaldehyde, was
expanding the Bishop, Tex., formaldehyde plant capacity by 150 million pounds
per year, raising the output potential to 720 million pounds per year. U.S.
formaldehyde capacity was estimated at 4 billion pounds per year. The company
also completed a 175-million-pound-per-year ethylene unit at the new Bay
City complex. The latter was the first of two units to have a capacity of
1 billion pounds per year with production scheduled for 1969. The company
likewise expanded 2-ethyl hexanol capacity of its Bay City operation by 80
million pounds per year with completion scheduled for early 1968. 
 Coastal States Petrochemical Co. boosted benzene capacity of the Corpus
Christi plant by 3,000 barrels per day. A 150million-pound-per-year expansion
of perchioroethylene and trichloroethylene will double the capacity of the
Deer Park chemical complex of Diamond Alkali Co. The Dow Chemical Co. began
construction of a new chemical complex at Oyster Creek with construction
of a 600-millionpound-per-year vinyl chloride monomer plant. The new plant
was scheduled to go onstream in 1969. The company was also planning an 800-million-pound-per-year
ethylene oxide plant to be built on the gulf coast with no definite ' location
specified. E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Inc., began constructing the
world's largest methanol plant, a 200-million-gallon-per-year facility. This
installation would more than double the company's 
methanol capacity. Enjay Chemical Co., a unit of Standard Oil Co., New Jersey,
was expanding polypropylene capacity of its Baytown plant to a total of 150
million pounds per year. Goodrich-Gulf Chemicals, Inc., will become the second
U.S. company to make polyisoprene rubber with construction of a 60,000-ton-per-year
unit adjacent to its polybutadiene rubber plant at Orange, Tex., and a new
isoprene monomer plant at Port Neches. 
 Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. will increase polybutadiene capacity of its
Beaumont plant to a total of 56,000 long tons per year and expand polyisoprene
capacity to 60,000 tons. Both expansions, including new processing facilities
for isoprene, and a new finishing line, were scheduled for completion in
early 1968. Gulf Oil Corp. was building a 100-million-pound-per-year high-density
polyethylene plant at Orange and planned a 900-million-pound-per-year ethylene
plant at Port Arthur. The company operated a 200-million-pound-peryear low-density
polyethylene unit at Orange and a new 200-million-poundper-year unit at Cedar
Bayou. FMC Corp. will build a 50-million-pound per-year synthetic glycerine
plant in the Bayport area, southeast of Houston. Hill Chemical, Inc., will
build a 1,000-tonper-day anhydrous ammonia plant at Borger, the first phase
of a project which will include associated terminals and storage facilities
in the Midwest. The plant will be the first to distribute its product by
pipeline to farm markets in the Midwest through the planned Mid-America Pipeline
Co. system. Jefferson Chemical Co., a jointly owned subsidiary of Texaco,
Inc., and American Cyanamid Co., began construction of an ethylene oxide
unit at its Port Neches, Tex., plant. The new unit will use the direct oxidation
process with output ~cheduled to begin in mid-1968. 
 A 30-million-pound-per-year orthoxylene unit was added tb the Alvin complex
of Monsanto Co. The company also expanded styrene monomer capacity of its
Texas City plant to 750 million pounds per year. A 160-million-pound-per-year
propylene oxide plant will be built near Houston by Oxirane Chemical Co.
Propylene oxide is used to make urethane foams, polyester resins, glycols,
synthetic elastomers, and other products. Oxirane Chemical Co., a joint venture
of Atlantic Richfield and Halcon International, Inc., purchased a 5-acre