Shell: Asphalt, plastics, chemicals to sustain demand for oil refining
by ChemOrbis Editorial Team - content@chemorbis.com
According to media sources, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Royal Dutch Shell forecasts that the demand for gasoline could reach a peak by the 2030s as drivers shift to electric vehicles and traditional engines become more efficient.
However, Shell claims that the growing demand for asphalt and plastics will help sustain its century-old oil refining business for the coming decades.
In the light of volatile crude markets, Shell has transformed its downstream business since 2012. The company believes that there are no economically viable alternatives for asphalt or for polymers and chemicals.
Accordingly, the company is expected to double its earnings from its chemical business as of mid-2020s between $3.5 billion to $4 billion by upgrading its existent petrochemical refining facilities and adding several new ones in its portfolio.
The company is currently working on its large-scaled Pennsylvania Chemicals Project which includes a cracker with a capacity of 1.36 million tons/year of ethane and three other units with a total production capacity of 1.58 million tons/year of PE.
The complex will be able to produce LLDPE and HDPE upon its slated completion in 2020.
The company’s facilities in Louisiana and Pennsylvania will reportedly take advantage of their proximity to cheap shale gas fields across the region.
The company’s net profit during the third quarter of 2017, meanwhile, increased by 50% to $4.1 billion from $2.7 billion in the same quarter a year ago amid higher contributions from its downstream and upstream operations.
However, Shell claims that the growing demand for asphalt and plastics will help sustain its century-old oil refining business for the coming decades.
In the light of volatile crude markets, Shell has transformed its downstream business since 2012. The company believes that there are no economically viable alternatives for asphalt or for polymers and chemicals.
Accordingly, the company is expected to double its earnings from its chemical business as of mid-2020s between $3.5 billion to $4 billion by upgrading its existent petrochemical refining facilities and adding several new ones in its portfolio.
The company is currently working on its large-scaled Pennsylvania Chemicals Project which includes a cracker with a capacity of 1.36 million tons/year of ethane and three other units with a total production capacity of 1.58 million tons/year of PE.
The complex will be able to produce LLDPE and HDPE upon its slated completion in 2020.
The company’s facilities in Louisiana and Pennsylvania will reportedly take advantage of their proximity to cheap shale gas fields across the region.
The company’s net profit during the third quarter of 2017, meanwhile, increased by 50% to $4.1 billion from $2.7 billion in the same quarter a year ago amid higher contributions from its downstream and upstream operations.
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