Shell and CNOOC to build $4.3 billion petrochemicals complex
4 Nov 2002
The board of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell have agreed to proceed with the construction of a $4.3 billion petrochemicals complex in southern China.
The board of the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell Petrochemicals have agreed to proceed with the construction of a $4.3 billion petrochemicals complex in southern China.
The decision by the companies - who formed a 50-50 joint venture in October 2000 - follows the completion of a 20-month Definition Phase. The Definition Phase finalised basic design engineering packages, completed an updated Environmental and Social Impact Assessment, prepared and called for bid packages for the engineering, procurement and construction phase of the project and arranged financing.
Major construction work is expected to start early next year on the 430 hectare site at the Daya Bay Economic and Technical Development Zone, Guangdong Province. The project is scheduled for start-up in late 2005.
It is expected that $1 billion worth of major contracts for the process plants, plant automation and project management services will be awarded before the end of the year.
The major features of the world-scale project include an 800,000 tonne per annum (tpa) ethylene cracker, a 560,000 tpa styrene monomer and a 250,000 tpa propylene oxide plant.
Once completed, the petrochemicals complex will produce about 2.3 million tonnes of products per year, generating a projected $1.7 billion in product sales, primarily supplying customers in Guangdong and the high consumption areas of China’s coastal economic zones.
