BUSINESS REPORT (South Africa): Shell on track for billion-dollar chemical project: “Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell is a step closer to building a proposed chemical project in Singapore that could cost up to one billion US dollars, the company said Tuesday.” (ShellNews.net) 14 Dec 04

December 14, 2004

Singapore - Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch/Shell is a step closer to building a proposed chemical project in Singapore that could cost up to one billion US dollars, the company said Tuesday.

The company also announced the project might include the participation of the Singapore government with talks between the two parties to start next year.

"Shell is pleased to announce that it is progressing to the next phase of its proposed world-scale cracker and derivatives project in Singapore," it said in a statement.

"This phase will result in a detailed design and engineering package for construction to begin in 2006 and start-up in the first half of 2009."

The project involves the construction of a new world-scale ethylene cracker on Bukom island, a new mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant in Jurong island plus modifications and additions to the company's existing crude oil refinery on Bukom island.  

A cracker is a petrochemical plant that turns naphtha and light hydrocarbons into ethylene, propylene, and other chemical raw materials. These chemicals are then used to manufacture other products, such as polystyrene, and polypropylene.

"Both the cracker and the MEG plant will benefit from integration with Shell's considerable existing investments in Singapore," the company said.

A Shell spokeswoman said a world-scale ethylene cracker typically has an annual production capacity of 600 000-900 000 tonnes while a MEG plant will have 400 000-700 000 tonnes.

While not giving out exact figures, the spokeswoman said a project of this scale could cost about $1 billion (about R5.7 billion) to build. - AFP

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