Pilipinas Shell to spend US$150 million for refinery upgrade

Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corp. is spending as much as US$150 million to upgrade its refinery in Batangas province in southern Luzon, Philippines. The modernization program will be completed by 2012, said Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras. Almendras said Shell would start the upgrade early next year. To date, the local unit of Royal Dutch Shell Plc. operates a refinery in Tabangao, Batangas, with a capacity of 110,000 barrels per day. Last week, Shell said it is close to completing a technical study to evaluate possible modifications in the refinery’s design and refining processes. The study aims to determine the necessary modifications that will allow the refinery to produce Euro 4-compliant gasoline and diesel fuel by 2015, when Euro 4 standards are expected to be implemented. Last week, Shell said it has signed a deal with the Philippine government for a joint technical feasibility study for a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Batangas. The proposed site of the LNG import and regasification terminal is located adjacent to the Shell refinery. The government has a US$2.1-billion natural gas master plan, which includes the construction of an integrated Bataan LNG terminal and several LNG-fired power plants.