CNOOC-Shell JV lets contract for Huizhou Phase 3 ethylene expansion

Shell PLC subsidiary Shell Nanhai BV and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC) have let a contract to Shell Catalyst & Technologies (SC&T) to deliver process technology for a third major expansion of ethylene production capacity at the operators’ 50-50 joint venture CNOOC & Shell Petrochemicals Co. Ltd.’s (CSPC) petrochemical complex in Daya Bay Economic & Technological Development Zone, Huizhou City, Guangdong Province, China.

As part of the Feb. 27 contract, SC&T will license a suite of technologies for CSPC’s Phase 3 expansion, including its proprietary production process for styrene monomer and propylene oxide (SMPO) and OMEGA catalytic process for manufacturing of ethylene-oxide-ethylene glycol (EO-EG), as well as its technology for production of linear alpha olefins (LAO) for a grassroots LAO plant to be built as part of the project, the service provider said.

SC&T said its scope of delivery under contract also includes provision of associated catalysts for the Phase 3 growth project, which will add a new 1.6-million tonne/year (tpy) ethylene cracker.

The contract for CSPC’s Phase 3 expansion follows the partners’ May 2020 confirmation that they would proceed with project development that was then only to include construction of a new 1.5-million tpy cracker (OGJ Online, May 18, 2020).

Preceded by commissioning of a 1.2-million tpy ethylene cracker—the site’s second—in 2018, CSPC most recently completed startup of remaining derivatives units included under complex’s Phase 2 expansion in April 2021 (OGJ Online, Apr. 14, 2021).