China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) and Shell Nanhai B.V. (Shell) announce the final investment decision to expand CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Company’s (CSPC) existing 50:50 joint venture (JV). Subject to regulatory approvals, CNOOC and Shell have agreed that CSPC should take over CNOOC’s ongoing project to build additional chemical facilities next to CSPC’s petrochemical complex.    

The project includes the ongoing construction of a new ethylene cracker and ethylene derivatives units, which will increase ethylene capacity by more than 1 million tonnes of per year, about double the current capacity. It will also include a styrene monomer and propylene oxide (SMPO) plant, which will be the largest such plant ever built in China.

Shell will apply its proprietary OMEGA, SMPO and Polyols technologies to produce 150,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) of ethylene oxide, 480,000 tpa of ethylene glycol and 600,000 tpa of high quality polyols. It will be the first time that Shell’s industry-leading OMEGA and advanced polyols technologies will be applied in China. This increases the volumes and diversity of CSPC’s high quality product range, as well as enhances overall energy efficiency.