MOSCOW (MRC) -- Royal Dutch Shell Plc plans to idle a sulfur recovery unit (SRU) at the joint-venture Deer Park, Texas, refinery in 2021, reported Reuters with reference to Shell spokesman Curtis Smith's statement.
Currently, the refinery is operating at about 75% of its 318,000 barrel-per-day capacity because of reduced demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said sources familiar with plant operations.
Smith said the decision to idle the SRU, one of six at the refinery, came after a review of operations at the refinery.
“We continually assess all aspects of our business to ensure we remain competitive in an ever-tightening market,” Smith said. “As part of that process, we have made the decision to shut down one of Deer Park’s sulfur recovery units next year.”
SRU extracts sulfur from hydrogen sulfide removed during the production of motor fuels.
The Deer Park refinery is a 50-50 joint-venture between Shell and Petroleos Mexicanos (Pemex), Mexico’s national oil company. Shell is the managing partner.
As MRC wrote before, in May 2020, CNOOC Oil & Petrochemicals Co. Ltd (CNOOC), Shell Nanhai B.V (Shell) and the Huizhou Government have announced a strategic cooperation agreement to further expand the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Company (CSPC) 50:50 joint venture in Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China.
The expansion is planned to serve the growing number of intermediate and performance chemicals customers in the key market of China, supplying products including SMPO, polyols, ethylene glycol, polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). These chemicals are used in a wide range of end products, in healthcare, construction, fabrics, packaging, transport and electronics. For the first time in Asia, Shell would apply its advanced technology for linear alpha olefins. The project is intended to include construction of a new 1.5 million-tonnes-per-year ethylene cracker, with the mega-site bringing economies of scale and enhanced competitiveness.
Ethylene and propylene are feedstocks for producing polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).
According to MRC's ScanPlast report, Russia's estimated PE consumption totalled 595,170 tonnes in the first five month of 2020, up by 10% year on year. Deliveries of all ethylene polymers, except for linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), rose partially because of an increase in capacity utilisation at ZapSibNeftekhim. At the same time, PP shipments to the Russian market was 457,930 tonnes in January-May 2020 (calculated by the formula production minus export plus import). Deliveris of exclusively PP random copolymer increased.
Royal Dutch Shell plc is an Anglo-Dutch multinational oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the biggest company in the world in terms of revenue and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration and production, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading.
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