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TPC Group, previously known as Texas Petrochemicals, is a petrochemicals manufacturing company based in Houston, Texas, and is a large producer of butadiene, MTBE, and polyisobutylene. TPC has operations in Houston and Port Neches, Texas, and Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Products

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In 2011, TPC led the market in butadiene (35% market share), butene-1 (35% market share), polyisobutylene (PIB) (60% market share), and was near the top of the market in both isobutylene and propylene derivatives.[1]

History

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The Houston plant was authorized in 1942 as part of the United States Rubber Reserve Program,[2] and opened in 1944 operated by Sinclair Rubber. It was subsequently purchased by a joint venture of Tenneco and FMC Corporation in 1955, and the joint venture was named Petro-Tex Chemical Corporation, also known as PTC Corporation, until sold to Texas Olefins in 1984.[3] and later Texas Olefins also changed its name to Texas Petrochemicals in 1984.[4][5] Texas Petrochemicals was acquired by the private equity firm Sterling Group in 1996.[6] In 2003, a collapse of the MTBE market forced Texas Petrochemicals (now employee owned via a LBO) into bankruptcy.[7] The company emerged from bankruptcy under new ownership in 2004.[8]

The Port Neches, Texas, plant—also authorized by Rubber Reserve—opened in 1943 operated by Neches Butane Products Company. It was purchased by Texaco in 1980, and later it was purchased by Huntsman Corporation in 1994, then purchased by Texas Petrochemicals in 2006.[5]

Texas Petrochemicals changed its name to TPC Group in 2010.[4]

TPC Group was taken private in 2012 by First Reserve Corporation and SK Capital Partners, in a deal worth approximately $850 million, after a bidding war with Innospec.[9] [10] [11][12] The merger was approved by shareholders in December 2012.[13]

TPC sold its Baytown, Texas, propylene derivatives facility to SI Group in 2016.[14]

Michael T. McDonnell was the CEO from 2011 to 2015. McDonnell is currently the head of General Cable.[15] Edward J. Dineen is the current CEO, starting in 2016. Dineen was previously CEO at Siluria Technologies, CEO at LS9, Inc, and COO of LyondellBasell. Dineen is also on the board of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers.[16]

On June 1, 2022, TPC Group filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Among reasons cited were the 2019 explosion at its facility in Port Neches, TX (which now only terminals chemicals instead of producing them), the COVID-19 pandemic, Winter Storm Uri in 2021, and higher prices for commodities and energy.[17]

Locations

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  • Corporate headquarters – Houston[14]
  • Houston, TX operations, headquarters
  • Baytown, TX operations (former, sold in 2016)
  • Port Neches, TX (terminals, former operating plant)
  • Lake Charles, Louisiana (terminals)

Port Neches explosions

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December 11th, 2019, aerial view of TPC plant and surrounding area

A processing unit at TPC's Port Neches butadiene manufacturing plant exploded in a series of explosions on Wednesday, November 27, 2019, the eve of Thanksgiving Day, and a fire raged at the facility. 60,000 residents were evacuated[18][19][5] within four miles of the facility, including parts of Port Neches, Nederland, Groves, and Port Arthur, Texas. The mandatory evacuation was lifted on Friday morning.[20] Four workers were injured, none seriously. Local residents reported respiratory, eye and throat pain caused by the acrid smoke from the fire at the Port Neches facility.[21]

In 2018, the Port Neches facility released the second-highest illegal amount of cancer-causing butadiene in Texas. The November 27 explosions were part of a series of major explosions in 2019 in Texas's petrochemical corridor. Environmental advocacy organizations helped organize residents to demand more consequential action from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) than what they described as the typical inadequate fines imposed by the TCEQ for violations by the petrochemical industry. In response to the detailed testimony by residents concerning the November 27 explosions and fire, the TCEQ referred the matter for criminal prosecution.[21]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "TPC Group Inc. slide presentation". sec.gov. Retrieved 1 December 2019. EX-99.1 2 d239173dex991.htm TPC GROUP INC. SLIDE PRESENTATION TPC Group Inc. slide presentation
  2. ^ Herbert, Vernon "Synthetic Rubber - A Project That Had To Succeed" Greenwood Press, 1985 ISBN 0-313-24634-3
  3. ^ "History".
  4. ^ a b "TPC Group has long history, spotty environmental record". Beaumont Enterprise. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. The company Texas Olefins bought the Houston operations from Texaco in 1984 and changed its name to Texas Petrochemical. In 2006, Texas Petrochemical bought the Port Neches campus from The Woodlands chemical company Huntsman Corp.
  5. ^ a b c "SE Texas town rocked by chemical plant explosion". Beaumont Enterprise. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Houston-based TPC Group has a 75-year history in Port Neches and the Port of Houston dating back to 1944 when the legacy plants in Port Neches and Houston were opened by two different companies, the Neches Butane Products Co. and Sinclair Rubber, respectively.
  6. ^ "Portfolio".
  7. ^ "Texas Petrochemicals files for bankruptcy protection". 21 July 2003.
  8. ^ "Texas Petrochemical dismisses senior executives - 2004-07-13". Archived from the original on 2005-03-14.
  9. ^ "TPC Group would go private with sale". HoustonChronicle.com. 2012-08-28. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Chemical company TPC Group would go private under the plan announced Monday. Stockholders would get $40 per share from investment firms First Reserve Corp. and SK Capital Partners for a total of about $628 million. The company values the sale at $850 million when including the net debt assumed in the deal.
  10. ^ Reuters Editorial (2012-08-27). "TPC Group to go private with $627.2 mln deal". U.S. Retrieved 1 December 2019. Specialty chemicals maker TPC Group Inc will be taken private by investment funds sponsored by First Reserve Corp and SK Capital Partners for about $627.2 million. ... The deal is valued at about $850 million {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  11. ^ Reuters Editorial (2012-12-03). "Innospec withdraws proposal to buy TPC Group". U.S. Retrieved 1 December 2019. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  12. ^ Reuters Editorial (2012-12-03). "Innospec pulls out of race for TPC Group". U.S. Retrieved 1 December 2019. First Reserve Corp and SK Capital Partners are offering $45 per share for TPC, lower than Innospec's $47.50, but TPC has recommended that its shareholders vote in favor of a deal with the two private equity firms. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  13. ^ Reuters Editorial (2012-12-05). "TPC shareholders approve sale to First Reserve, SK Capital". U.S. Retrieved 1 December 2019. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  14. ^ a b "SI Group buys Baytown chemical plant from TPC Group". HoustonChronicle.com. 2016-09-15. Retrieved 1 December 2019. The sale includes a propylene derivatives plant and terminal on 10 acres at 4604 W. Baker Road. The plant manufactures products used in the production of plasticizers, detergents, lube oil additives and antioxidants. ... The Baytown plant, with a capacity to make 160 million pounds of product per year, is the smallest of TPC Group's three manufacturing sites. Its plant near the Houston Ship Channel can make up to 1.5 billion pounds of product per year, and Port Neches can make 900 million pounds per year. The company also operates a butadiene product terminal in Lake Charles, La.
  15. ^ Group, TPC (26 September 2011). "TPC Group Appoints Senior VP -- Corporate Development". GlobeNewswire News Room (Press release). Retrieved 1 December 2019. Mike McDonnell, President and Chief Executive Officer, {{cite press release}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ Group, TPC. "Edward J. Dineen | TPC Group". TPC Group. Retrieved 1 December 2019. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  17. ^ "TPC Group files for bankruptcy 2 years after Port Neches plant explosions". 12newsnow.com. June 1, 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-01.
  18. ^ "Most residents allowed to return to homes as Port Neches plant continues to burn". HoustonChronicle.com. 2019-11-29. Retrieved 1 December 2019.
  19. ^ Seba, Erwin (2019-11-28). "Residents flee fourth major Texas petrochemical fire this year". U.S. Retrieved 1 December 2019. An early morning blast at a TPC Group complex in Port Neches, Texas, was followed by a series of secondary explosions that shattered windows and blew locked doors off their hinges.
  20. ^ Reuters Editorial (2019-11-29). "Evacuation lifted for Texas towns rattled by chemical plant blast". U.S. Retrieved 1 December 2019. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  21. ^ a b Public Citizen News, 18 Dec. 2019, Groups Score Victory in Fight Against Industrial Polluter
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