HOUSTON, Jan. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Westlake
Chemical Partners LP (NYSE: WLKP), a Westlake company, announced that it has
approved plans to expand ethylene capacity at the Calvert City, Kentucky facility owned by its
affiliate, Westlake Chemical OpCo LP ("OpCo"). This expansion will
add 70 million pounds of stated annual ethylene capacity to the
Calvert City facility during the
first half of 2017.
"We are pleased about the ethylene expansion at the Calvert City, Kentucky facility. This
expansion, which combined with incremental capacity increases will
total 100 million pounds of annual capacity, is in addition to the
250 million pound ethylene expansion at the Petro 1 facility in
Lake Charles, Louisiana, which is
expected to begin in the second quarter of 2016. The
additional production of ethylene at both facilities will be sold
under the terms of the long-term, fixed-margin ethylene sales
agreement in which 95% of OpCo's production is sold to our sponsor,
Westlake Chemical Corporation, at a price designed to generate a
margin of ten cents per pound. We
believe the incremental earnings from these expansions will allow
us to continue to grow our distributions at a low double-digit
rate," said Albert Chao, President
and Chief Executive Officer.
The statements in this release relating to matters that are
not historical facts, but forward-looking statements, could be
adversely affected by, among other things, operating difficulties;
the volume of ethylene that we are able to sell; the price at which
we are able to sell ethylene; changes in the price and availability
of electricity; changes in prevailing economic conditions; actions
of third parties; unanticipated ground, grade or water conditions;
inclement or hazardous weather conditions, including flooding, and
the physical impacts of climate change; environmental hazards;
industrial accidents; changes in laws and regulations (or
the interpretation thereof); inability to acquire or maintain
necessary permits; inability to obtain necessary production
equipment or replacement parts; technical difficulties or failures;
labor disputes; late delivery of raw materials; difficulty
collecting receivables; inability of our customers to take
delivery; changes in the price and availability of transportation;
fires, explosions or other accidents; our ability to borrow funds
and access capital markets; and other risk factors. For more
detailed information about the factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially, please refer to the Partnership's
Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014, which was filed with the SEC
in March 2015, and Quarterly Report
on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September
30, 2015, which was filed with the SEC in November 2015.
This release is intended to be a qualified notice under
Treasury Regulation Section 1.1446-4(b). Brokers and nominees
should treat one hundred percent (100.0%) of the Partnership's
distributions to non-U.S. investors as being attributable to income
that is effectively connected with a United States trade
or business. Accordingly, the Partnership's distributions to
non-U.S. investors are subject to federal income tax withholding at
the highest applicable effective tax rate.
Westlake Chemical Partners LP
Westlake Chemical Partners is a limited partnership formed by
Westlake Chemical Corporation to operate, acquire and develop
facilities for the processing of natural gas liquids as well as
other qualifying activities. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, the Partnership owns a 13.3%
interest in Westlake Chemical OpCo LP. Westlake Chemical OpCo LP's
assets include three facilities in Calvert City, Kentucky, and Lake Charles, Louisiana which process ethane
and propane into ethylene, and an ethylene pipeline. For more
information about Westlake Chemical Partners LP, please visit
http://www.wlkpartners.com/.
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SOURCE Westlake Chemical Partners LP