Shell reviewing Singapore energy, chemicals assets
Anglo-Dutch energy giant Shell has said it is conducting a strategic review of energy and chemicals assets on Bukom and Jurong Island in Singapore. Shell has also stated that it is considering the sale of its Singapore chemical and refining assets and will constrain investment in chemicals as emphasis shifts to lower-carbon products.
The company said its part of its strategy update for investors, aimed at creating more value with less emissions, it added it is aiming to “repurpose its energy and chemicals arks footprint to offer more low-carbon solutions to customers”.
The Bukom refinery, Shell’s only wholly owned refining-petrochemical centre in Asia, can process 237,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude.
Singapore is Shell’s largest petrochemical production and export centre in the Asia Pacific, with a production of 1.1 million tonnes/year of ethylene and other downstream products. The Bukom site also produces base oils, which is sent to Shell’s nearby lubricants plant in Tuas.
Earlier this year, Shell had announced that it had opted not to proceed with planned biofuel and base oil projects in Singapore. It had proposed to build a 550,000 tonnes/year biofuels complex at Bukom to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and biodiesel.
It also planned to develop a Group II base oil project, providing feedstock for its lubricants production in Singapore.
The Singapore projects were a cornerstone of the transformation of Shell’s Bukom refinery and associated Jurong petrochemical plant in the Southeast Asian city-state. Bukom is one of Shell’s five energy and chemicals parks globally and the only one in Asia.
Shell has already unveiled a plan to halve its operational (Scope 1 and 2) CO2 emissions in Singapore from 2016 levels by 2030.
Bukom was also set to play a key role in the Shell’s ambition to produce around 2 million tonnes/year of SAF by 2025 and for SAF to account for at least 10% of its global aviation fuel sales by the end of the decade.
