Business · Energy & Commodities · 5 hrs ago
Ineos drives growth in US fracked ethane exports to Europe
British company Ineos is driving growth in the trade of US fracked ethane, a gas used to make plastic.
Data analysed by the Center for International Environmental Law shows that shipments by or for Ineos grew about 7.3 times between 2016 and 2025.
Ineos accounted for at least two-thirds of US ethane exports, while US exports in 2024 were more than four times those of the rest of the world combined.
The gas comes from fracking in the United States, including Pennsylvania, and is carried across the Atlantic on Ineos vessels to the company’s European facilities.
The trade connects US extraction sites to plastic production in Europe, even though fracking is banned across much of Europe because of its environmental effects and links to earthquakes.
A Pennsylvania campaigner blames nearby fracking wells for her children’s health problems, while campaigners warn that the supply chain could harm communities and the environment.
Ineos’s planned Belgian development has become a focus of these concerns; it will use US fracked gas and has received British government financial backing.
Ineos is driving growth in US fracked ethane exports to Europe, according to analysis by the Center for International Environmental Law.
The volume shipped by or for Ineos rose from 429 kilotonnes in 2016 to 3,130 kilotonnes in 2025.
CIEL says Ineos is responsible for at least two-thirds of US ethane exports.
The ethane is used to make ethylene, a building block for most plastics, including plastic made at Ineos’s European facilities.
Campaigners say fracking and the trade can harm health and the environment in communities along the supply chain.
- Who
- Ineos, a British petrochemical company, is driving the growth. CIEL analysed the export data.
- What
- US fracked ethane exports shipped by or for Ineos have grown substantially. The gas is used to make ethylene for plastics.
- When
- The reported growth is from 2016 to 2025.
- Where
- The ethane is sourced in the United States and shipped across the Atlantic to European facilities.
- Why
- Ethane is used to make ethylene, a building block for plastics. The articles do not state why the export trade has grown.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Ineos completed an eight-vessel route for transporting fracked ethane across the Atlantic.
CIEL data recorded 429 kilotonnes shipped by or for Ineos.
US ethane exports were more than four times those of the rest of the world combined, according to the article.
CIEL data recorded 3,130 kilotonnes shipped by or for Ineos.
- Company
- Ineos, a British company
- Export volume in 2016
- 429 kilotonnes
- Export volume in 2025
- 3,130 kilotonnes
- Growth in shipped volume
- Roughly 7.3-fold since 2016
- Ineos share of US ethane exports
- At least two-thirds, according to CIEL
- Transport route
- Eight vessels, known in the industry as “dragon ships
What people are saying
My children started getting sick,
For the first time, new data reveals the true extent of Ineos’s ethane supply chain. The petrochemical giant has operated a growing and polluting ethane trade,