(Repeats item issued on Thursday with no changes to text)
By Trixie Sher Li Yap and Florence Tan
SINGAPORE, March 30 (Reuters) - Shell has decided not to
go ahead with two projects it was studying to produce biofuels
and base oils in Singapore, a company spokesperson said on
Thursday.
"We can confirm that we are stopping the exploration of two
projects – a biofuels unit and a Group II base oil plant in
Singapore," the company told Reuters in an emailed statement.
"We will continue supplying base oil and lubricants, as well
as biofuels, to our customers in Singapore and the region."
Shell announced in late 2021 that it was studying a 550,000
tonnes per year project (tpy) at Singapore's Bukom Island to
produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to supply major Asian
hubs such as Hong Kong International Airport and Singapore's
Changi.
The company had planned to make a final investment decision
for the project, which would have the flexibility to produce
renewable diesel and bionaphtha feedstock for petrochemicals, by
early 2023.
Unlike Europe and the United States, there is no mandate for
airlines to use SAF in Asia, an industry source said, adding
that customers were not willing to accept higher costs for the
fuel.
Shell is building a 820,000 tpy biofuels plant in Rotterdam,
the Netherlands, and had targeted to make about 2 million tpy of
SAF by 2025.
Aviation, accounting for 3% of the world's carbon emissions,
is one of the most difficult forms of transportation to
decarbonise.
(Reporting by Trixie Yap and Florence Tan; Editing by Jan
Harvey and Christina Fincher)
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