Shell on track with P624-M upgrade of Tabangao plant

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp (PSPC) will pursue its $13-mil­lion (P624-million) upgrade of the Tabangao Refinery to pro­duce bitumen.

“The corporation has taken the decision to proceed with the upgrade of its Tabangao Refin­ery to enable production of bitu­men. The capital investment is estimated at $13 million,” PSPC informed the stock exchange.

The Tabangao Refinery lo­cated in Batangas City is an ISO certified refinery having secured the ISO 14001, BS OHSAS 18001 and ISO 9001.

The refinery successfully completed in 2016 upgrading to STAR-TREC (Shell Tabangao Asset Renewal – Tabangao Re­finery EURO-IV PH Compliance) Project, which is part of the emission standards set by the European Union.

In the Philippines, EURO-IV (PH)-compliant fuels means lowered sulphur content from 500 ppm (parts per million) to 50 ppm.

STAR TREC entailed the installation of a new hydro-de­sulfurization (HDS) reactor, a new pressure swing adsorp­tion (PSA) unit, and additions to the existing sour water stripper (SWS).

“This landmark project en­ables the refinery to produce 110,000 barrels per day of EU­RO-IV (PH) Philippine compliant fuels,” Pspc reported.

Built in 1960 with a capacity of 30,000 barrels per day, it has grown to its current nameplate capacity of 110,000 barrels per day. RIZA LOZADA