CNOOC and Shell's styrene/propylene oxide and polyether polyol project was put into production

On April 14, CNOOC Petroleum Refining & Chemical Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corporation, and Shell Nanhai Private Co., Ltd. announced their capital increase in the newly built styrene/propylene oxide and polyether polyol project (SMPO/POD). Project) was officially put into production successfully.

The SMPO/POD project is invested and operated by CNOOC and Shell Petrochemical Co., Ltd., and CNOOC Huizhou Petrochemical Co., Ltd. is responsible for the construction. There are a total of six newly-built production units, namely a 750,000 tons/year ethylbenzene unit, 630,000 tons/year styrene and 300,000 tons/year propylene oxide units, and two 250,000 tons/year polyether units. Polyol plant and a set of 100,000 tons/year polymer polyether plant. Its products can be widely used in construction and packaging materials, rubber, coatings, mattresses, furniture, electronics, clothing, automobiles and other industries.

The SMPO/POD project uses Shell's proprietary technology. Among them, the SMPO device uses an upgraded version of Shell's styrene and propylene oxide co-production process, which helps to reduce equipment investment costs, improve the production reliability of the device, and reduce water consumption and wastewater discharge. The POD device uses the industry-leading Shell polyol technology, which is the first application of this technology in China. Compared with traditional processes, Shell's proprietary technology will further improve the overall energy efficiency and process safety of the device, and reduce the carbon footprint, contributing to the creation of an environmentally friendly, safe and efficient CNOOC and Shell factory.

As an important part of the second phase of the CNOOC and Shell project, the official commissioning of the SMPO/POD project marked the complete and successful completion of the second phase. Prior to this, the remaining devices of the second phase project had all been put into production in 2018. At present, CNOOC and Shell can provide customers with up to 6 million tons of various intermediate and high-performance chemicals, including polyols, ethylene glycol, polyethylene and polypropylene each year.

In May 2020, CNOOC, Shell and the Guangdong Huizhou government signed a strategic cooperation framework agreement for the CNOOC and Shell Huizhou Phase III ethylene project. The third ethylene cracker will be built and Shell’s advanced technology for the production of linear alpha olefins will be deployed for the first time in Asia. . At the same time, CNOOC and Shell also signed a memorandum of understanding to use Shell's diphenyl carbonate process technology to develop a commercial-scale polycarbonate production facility in the region.