Shell said to be weighing options for Philippine refinery

Pilipinas Shell is conducting a technical study to evaluate the modifications it would need to make in the design and configuration of its 110,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery in Tabangao, Batangas, Philippines, to meet new fuel standards that take effect in 2016.
A local paper, The Manila Bulletin, reported earlier that Pilipinas Shell may shut down the Tabangao facility if a redesign becomes too expensive.
“Our choices will be to upgrade [the refinery], or we can also do what Chevron did, which is shut down,” Bobby Kanapi, Pilipinas Shell vice president for communications, was quoted as saying.
The Philippines plans to implement Euro 4-equivalent vehicle emission standards from January 1, 2016. In May, the government invited comments from local oil companies for the proposed gasoline and diesel fuel specifications. The Department of Energy (DOE) proposed cutting the maximum sulfur content in gasoline and diesel fuel to 50 parts per million (ppm), from 500 ppm, but kept other parameters for gasoline such as aromatics, benzene and Reid Vapor Pressure unchanged at a maximum of 35%, 2% and 62 kPa, respectively.
At the same time, the DOE recommended adjusting the octane numbers of gasoline sold in the country to 91 research octane number (RON), 95 RON and 97 RON.
The final fuel specs are expected by year-end.