Shell and partner China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) have finally received government approvals to take over the new petrochemical complex being built at Huizhou in China’s Guangdong province, next to the partnership’s existing Nanhai operations. A Heads of Agreement (HOA) was signed in December 2015 to expand the CNOOC Shell Petrochemicals Company (CSPC) 50:50 joint venture at Huizhou.

 “These government and regulatory approvals complete the official handover from CNOOC to CSPC and are an important step towards producing more petrochemicals for China’s growing domestic markets,” said Dong Xiaoli, general manager assistant of CNOOC and general manager of CNOOC Oil & Petrochemicals.

Graham van’t Hoff, executive vice president for Royal Dutch Shell’s global chemicals business, added that the approvals were another positive step for Shell, which is pursuing growth in China together with strategic partner CNOOC.

Around 70% of construction work is now complete and the new facilities are expected to start up around the fourth quarter of 2017. The project, which will raise ethylene production by 1.2 million t/y, includes the largest styrene monomer and propylene oxide (SMPO) plant to be built in China.

Shell will supply its proprietary OMEGA and advanced polyols technologies, the first time they will be applied in the country. The complex will comprise plants to produce 150,000 t/y ethylene oxide, 480,000 t/y ethylene glycol, 630,000 t/y styrene monomer, 300,000 t/y propylene oxide and 600,000 t/y polyols, more than doubling the volume and range of CSPC’s products to around 6 million t/y.