This article originally posted on the website in November. It is one of the top-rated articles of 2020.
Shell plans to reduce its refinery portfolio to six sites from 14 by 2025, the company said on Thursday in its third-quarter results announcement for 2020.
The company said it will transform its refining portfolio from the current 14 sites into six high-value energy and chemical parks.
The six sites include Deer Park, Texas, U.S.; Norco, Louisiana, U.S.; Pernis, the Netherlands; Pulau Bukom, Singapore; Rheinland, Germany; and Scotford, Canada.
The refineries will become integrated with chemicals and increasingly with low-carbon fuels such as biofuels, hydrogen, and synthetic fuels, said Ben van Beurden, CEO, in his earnings presentation.
These parks will sit alongside Shell's chemical complexes. These complexes include CSPC, a Chinese joint venture that includes CNOOC; the Fife Ethylene plant, which is a Scottish joint venture with ExxonMobil; Geismar, Louisiana; Jurong Island, Singapore; Moerdijk, the Netherlands; and Pennsylvania Chemicals, a complex being built in the US.
As far as the eight other refineries, Shell is already in the process of divesting some of them, said Curtis Smith, spokesman. Other options include converting them into terminals or closing them.
The company stated that continued weakness in refining margins and lower utilization mainly due to lower demand and economic optimization of the plants are the main reasons for this decision.
