Shell complex to use Newater

Straits Times 26 May 09;

OIL giant Royal Dutch Shell announced yesterday that its Singapore project has signed a deal to use Newater in its petrochemical plant.

The vast complex has also commissioned four pipelines that will transport chemical products - like ethylene, used to make plastics - to parts of the project.

The Newater pipeline will supply water to the Shell Eastern Petrochemicals Complex (SEPC), which has plants on Pulau Bukom and Jurong Island.

Newater is reclaimed water that has undergone stringent purification and treatment processes, making it ideal for the SEPC project. The deal will make Shell the largest industrial user of Newater.

'Since its introduction in 2003, Newater has seen a steady increase in its take-up rate as more industrial and commercial customers appreciate its high-quality properties,' said Mr Chong Hou Chun, national water agency PUB's water supply network director.

The SEPC project, Shell's largest single investment in Asia, has been strategically located to take advantage of existing infrastructure. For instance, the new petrochemical site has been integrated with the existing Bukom Refinery.

Shell has said that it is on track to have the complex up and running by the end of this year. The plant will be able to produce 800,000 tonnes of ethylene and 750,000 tonnes of mono-ethylene glycol - which is used in antifreeze - a year.

LINETTE LAI