Looking ahead

 Our strategy is to grow our business in three ways:

• invest to boost capacity and efficiencies at existing manufacturing sites;
• build new world-scale assets; 
• develop new technologies for the future.

At our existing sites, we are selectively increasing capacity, improving efficiencies and integration, and strengthening our feedstock position.

One of our most significant investments has been in Singapore. Here, we’ve built a new world-scale ethylene cracker complex within our existing refinery site on Bukom Island, so creating Shell’s largest, fully-integrated refinery and petrochemicals hub (left).

The cracker has boosted the supply of base chemicals in Asia. Ethylene from the cracker also feeds our new mono-ethylene glycol (MEG) plant – one of the largest in the world - which is situated on nearby Jurong Island, a major petrochemical zone.

Global demand for MEG was around 18 million tonnes in 2008. By 2015 this could be above 25 million tonnes per year. In China - where 70% of the world’s MEG output is used to make packaging and fibres - MEG demand continues to grow at around 6% each year.

Elsewhere in Asia, investments at our “Nanhai” petrochemicals joint venture complex in Guangdong, China, increased petrochemical production capacity from 2.3 million tonnes to 2.7 million tonnes a year.

Shell has been in a leader in ethylene oxide (EO) technologies and markets for more than 50 years.  We are evaluating options to grow our business in line with developments in the markets.

Buying out our former partners in the Ethylene Glycols Singapore (EGS) joint venture in Singapore is a significant step in growing our EO and glycols capacities. By taking full ownership of EGS we now have options to integrate, optimise and expand our EO-related manufacturing operations on Jurong Island in Singapore. 

Demand for EO and MEG is also increasing in European and North America. We plan to expand our facilities at Geismar, Louisiana, USA and also intend to expand EO at our Moerdijk complex in the Netherlands.

With strong growth projections for petrochemicals, the world will need more crackers to keep up with the demand. Shell plans to be part of that expansion.

We are currently developing plans for a world-scale ethane cracker and derivatives complex with Qatar Petroleum in Ras Laffan Industrial City, Qatar. The scope under consideration would include a mono-ethylene glycol plant of up to 1.5 million tonnes per annum using Shell’s proprietary OMEGA (Only MEG Advantaged) technology.

In China we’re working with the Qataris and Petrochina to develop an integrated refinery and petrochemicals complex.

Onshore natural gas production in the United States could offer further potential to boost our petrochemicals output by using ethane extracted from the gas as a feedstock for a new cracker. 

As competition for traditional chemical feedstocks increases, the industry will need to develop new technology to process a broader range of oil and gas feedstock, as well as coal-based and renewable bio-based feeds. Commercially-viable technology is the key to unlocking these alternative resources to enable the industry to continue to grow.

Shell’s expertise in hydrocarbons technology gives us a competitive edge and we are already making encouraging progress in developing technologies that could offer alternative routes to chemicals. In the longer term we are developing promising technologies to convert gas streams to chemicals, which will support our future growth.