Shell is planning to sell its U.S. chemical assets, with potential buyers including ExxonMobil, LyondellBasell, private equity firm Apollo Global Management, and the chemicals business of Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, according to a report by the Financial Times on August 24. The assets could be valued at as much as $8 billion in total.
Sources said potential buyers submitted non‑binding offers last month. Some bids were for the entire U.S. chemicals business, while others were for only part of the assets.
Monaca Project Also on the Block, with Total Investment of $14 Billion
The sale involves four chemical production sites owned by Shell in Louisiana, Texas, and Pennsylvania. The most notable among them is the Shell Polymers project in Monaca, Pennsylvania. The project began production in 2022, with Shell having invested approximately $14 billion in total. It has a designed polyethylene capacity of 1.6 million tons per year, using ethane feedstock primarily from the Marcellus and Utica shale gas basins in the northeastern United States. Shell had originally hoped to create the first major polyethylene production hub in the U.S. Northeast, leveraging its proximity to end‑user markets and low‑cost feedstock to expand its polyethylene business.
However, the investment ultimately failed to become a turning point for Shell's chemicals operations. In May of this year, Shell CEO Wael Sawan publicly stated that the company was making decisions regarding its chemicals operations, including Monaca, and noted that the Monaca facility was not a “natural owner and operator” for Shell.
Chemicals Division Under Pressure, Shell Accelerates Divestment
In 2025, Shell's chemicals division posted adjusted earnings of -$1.125 billion, deteriorating further from 2024. In February, Sawan said at an earnings call that the company would review the cash costs of each chemicals unit one by one and consider shutting them down if necessary, adding that “all options are on the table.” At the time, Shell also emphasised that the chemicals business needed to improve cash flow through cost reductions and portfolio restructuring.
Nevertheless, Shell's chemicals operations showed signs of recovery in the first half of 2026, with utilisation rates rising to 85% in the first quarter and adjusted earnings in the second quarter significantly higher than previous quarters. In other words, the sale is not a reaction to a sudden recent deterioration of the U.S. plants, but rather a deliberate move by Shell to reassess the long‑term capital returns and overall portfolio of its chemical assets.
Since Sawan took the helm, Shell's strategic direction has become increasingly clear. The company is concentrating capital on core businesses such as oil, gas, and LNG to underpin profit growth. At the same time, it is decisively shedding non‑core or underperforming assets. It has already exited its refining and petrochemical assets in Singapore, and in August it sold its European onshore renewable energy business to TotalEnergies.
Multiple Buyers Compete, Industrial Interest Remains Strong
Although Shell is exiting, its U.S. chemical assets continue to attract major industrial players like ExxonMobil and LyondellBasell. What buyers see is clearly more than just current profitability. These assets include mature production facilities, feedstock supply systems, and sales networks, and the Monaca project also benefits from its proximity to the polyethylene consumer market in the U.S. Northeast. For industrial buyers that already possess feedstock, production, and sales systems, acquiring existing assets may offer very different economics compared to building new facilities from scratch.
The transaction is still in its early stages, and the final buyer, transaction price, and scope of assets involved have yet to be determined.
