Shell reinforces commitment to the downstream in China

As in the past 11 months, global energy giant Royal Dutch Shell Plc will continue investing in China in the downstream sector to better serve its growing number of customers, said Huibert Vigeveno, the company's downstream director.

China remains a magnet for foreign investment despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of Shell's key markets. So, the company will focus on providing fuels, lubricants and petrochemicals, he said.

Industry insiders said while China's demand for oil products is expected to peak soon, the retail business is still very attractive for foreign companies due to the huge consumption potential of the domestic market.

"Despite China's stagnant road fuels demand in recent years, its large population base and increasing wealth make it an attractive option for the retail business of international oil companies," said Tang Sisi, an analyst at research firm BloombergNEF.

"Businesses like chemicals and lubricants are also in line with oil majors' low-carbon target."

The company said in 2018 that it planned to further increase its gas stations in the country to 3,500 by 2025, which is also in response to the lifting of restrictions on foreign investment in the sector. It currently has more than 1,600 sites in China.

Shell, already a leading international oil retailer in China, sees huge potential in the country's retail business. Non-fuel retailing is an area that Shell is developing in a big way, said Vigeveno.

Shell will continuously focus on the chemicals, lubricants and bitumen business as it believes oil-product consumption is peaking amid the world's transition to a cleaner energy mix.

It plans to downsize its global refining footprint from 14 plants now to six in the future.

Vigeveno said the company's electric vehicle charging services have been well received in China with a high utilization rate.

The company has opened its first Shell-Recharge off-site charging hub in Xi'an, Shaanxi province few weeks ago, in the heart of a large residential community. It has 22 60-kilowatt chargers available to the local community of electric vehicle drivers.

The company will also further involve itself in China's hydrogen projects, after it unveiled its first commercial hydrogen project in China in November, which includes a 20-megawatt electrolyser that will produce environmentally friendly hydrogen from renewable power.

This joint venture, with Zhangjiakou City Transport, intends to advance the development of hydrogen and clean energy in the region and supply refueling stations in Zhangjiakou, one of the co-hosts of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, he said.

Li Li, research director for the energy sector at energy consultancy firm ICIS, said the growing size of the Chinese market will encourage multinational companies such as Shell to continue investing in China for long-term success.

Shell's core business in China, which it will continue growing through more investments, is the CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Company or CSPC, a 50:50 joint venture, in Huizhou, Guangdong province.

CSPC will supply products like SMPO, polyols, ethylene glycol, polyethylene and polypropylene, which are used in a wide range of end products across industries like healthcare, construction, fabrics, packaging, transport and electronics, said Li.

Owing to low oil prices, many oil behemoths are cutting down upstream expenditure and are focusing more and more on the downstream sector, including chemicals and lubricants, she said.

The Ministry of Commerce said in November that foreign companies have increased investment and expanded production capacity in the country, with global companies' reinvested earnings during the first nine months of this year up by 25.5 percent in US dollar terms on a yearly basis.