LONDON, Dec 8 (Reuters) - Oil major Shell will goahead with the construction of a new unit at its Pernis refineryin Rotterdam, Europe's largest, that is set to start operatingby the end of 2018, the company said on Tuesday.
The new Solvent Deasphalter (SDA) unit will allow therefinery to turn more of its oil into lighter, high-gradeproducts that are more valuable and cleaner.
The upgrade will not alter the refinery's overall processingcapacity of 404,000 barrels per day, but some existing unitswill need modifying to work with the SDA, Shell said.
Shell's upgrade comes weeks after rival ExxonMobil announced a $1 billion investment to expand hydrocrackeroperations at its own Rotterdam refinery, giving it the capacityto make more high-performance lubricating oils and greases. (Reporting by Karolin Schaps, editing by Louise Heavens)