InterviewShell, PetroChina, QP agree on China JV product slate

04 May 2010 08:19  [Source: ICIS news]

By John Richardson

SINGAPORE (ICIS news)--The petrochemicals product slate for the Qatar Petroleum (QP), PetroChina and Shell Chemicals project being planned for Taizhou in Zhejiang province, China, has “in principle” been decided, Ben van Beurden, executive vice-president of Shell Chemicals said on Tuesday.

“We have decided in principle on the product slate downstream of the cracker, but have yet to make this public,” said van Beurden in an interview on the sidelines of the official opening event of Shell’s new cracker complex in Singapore.

“We have (also) drawn up a framework agreement about how this project would work,” he added.

He would not be drawn on a planned start-up date or whether the project - which also involves a refinery - might involve Qatar Petroleum and or Shell supplying crude.

“Some optimisation work on how the refinery would be configured is still being carried out,” he added.

After a feasibility study had been completed, the next step would be to submit a proposal to China’s National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) so the approval process can begin, said van Beurden.

ICIS news was earlier told that Fluor Corp was carrying out the study for a 440,000 bbl/day refinery and a 1.2m tonne/year petrochemicals complex.

Van Beurden also said that further expansion of the CNOOC/Shell joint-venture petrochemicals project at Daya Bay in Guangdong province in China is under evaluation, beyond current debottlenecking work.

“This is a very well-planned hub and has been a very successful business for us,” he said.

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By: John Richardson
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