Royal Dutch Shell PLC has approved a project to add a solvent deasphalting (SDA) unit at subsidiary Shell Nederland Raffinaderij BV’s 404,000-b/d Pernis refinery in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
The company has taken final investment decision to build the SDA unit, which the refinery will use to remove heavier fractions from crude oil feedstock to help boost its production of lighter, higher-valued, finished petroleum products, Shell said.
Alongside equipping the refinery with more flexibility to change its production slate to a different product mix in response to current market conditions, the SDA unit also will improve the environmental performance of the plant’s finished product slate, the operator said.
While addition of the SDA unit will require some modifications to existing units at the site, the new unit will not alter the refinery’s current crude processing capacity.
Pending permit approvals, construction of the unit is planned to start in 2016 and due to be completed by yearend 2018, the company said.
Details regarding planned modifications to the refinery’s existing units or Shell’s capital investment for the project were not disclosed.
Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].