CNOOC-SHELL petrochemical project began production on March 31. Located in Huizhou, eastern Guangdong, the project is one of the largest petrochemical projects launched in China in recent years, boasting an annually production of 2.3 million tons of petrochemical products.

This project is a great force in enhancing innovation ability and development level of petrochemical industry of Guangdong province with its advanced technology, equipment and management experience.

The project will not only drive upper stream businesses including exploration and production, but also middle and down stream businesses such as oil refining, petrochemicals, plastics products and textiles in Guangdong.

Greater product capability

The project adopted 13 patent technologies via international public bidding, including Shell's world-leading PO/SM technology, which can produce 550,000 tons of styrene monomer and 250,000 tons of propylene oxide each year.

The core of the project is a set of ethylene cracking facilities. With an annual production capability of 800,000 tons of ethylene and 430,000 tons of propylene, the facilities can refine not only naphtha but heavier condensate oil as well as hydrogenation unconverted oil and depression diesel, both by products of petroleum refineries.

Petrochemical industrial cluster

The province¡¯s rapid economic growth has lead to a huge demand for petrochemical materials. As a result, a series of large-scale petrochemical projects were launched alongside its coastline. Last November, CNOOC announced the establishment of its refining subsidiary and laid the cornerstone for its wholly invested oil refining project with an annual oil refining capacity of 12 million tons near the CNOOC-Shell project, with an aim to see cooperation and mutual benefits.

Through these large scale petrochemical projects, a new petrochemical industrial cluster is being developed in Daya Bay, Huizhou with multinational petrochemical companies and related industries from U.S, France, Germany, Japan and Singapore launching up projects here.

According to the 2006-2010 provincial petrochemical industry development plans, the Daya Bay petrochemical base is one of the province¡¯s five petrochemical bases along the southern coastal areas. It is also a significant part of Guangdong province¡¯s plan to become a pan-Asian petrochemical center.

Editor: Yan