* Bukom's 500,000 bpd refining capacity to be halved
* Company to cut 500 jobs by the end of 2023
* Studying biofuels, bitumen, recycled chemical feedstock
(Adds details)
By Aradhana Aravindan and John Geddie
SINGAPORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell
will halve crude processing capacity and cut jobs at its Pulau
Bukom oil refinery in Singapore as part of an overhaul to reduce
the company's carbon dioxide (CO2)emissions to net zero by 2050,
it said on Tuesday.
The refinery on Pulau Bukom, a small island in the Southeast
Asian city-state, can process 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) of
oil and is Shell's largest wholly-owned refinery worldwide.
Shell has launched a broad review of its business aimed at
cutting costs as it prepares to restructure its operations by
reducing its oil and gas business and expanding its renewable
energy and power division.
In September, Shell said it planned to cut up to 9,000 jobs
globally, or more than 10% of its workforce.
As part of the plans, Shell is cutting the number of oil
refining and petrochemical sites it will keep operating to six
from 14. Besides Pulau Bukom, the other sites are in Texas,
Louisiana, Germany, the Netherlands and Canada.
"Bukom will pivot from a crude-oil, fuels-based product
slate towards new low-carbon value chains. We will reduce our
crude processing capacity by about half and aim to deliver a
significant reduction in CO2 emissions," Shell said.
The company will cut 500 jobs by the end of 2023 at the
site, which now employs 1,300 staff, a Shell spokeswoman said.
"We will progressively make changes in our refinery
configuration over the next three years," she said.
The company announced in August that it would convert its
refinery in the Philippines into an import terminal as it was no
longer economically viable.
In Singapore, Shell said it was studying the production of
products that would still be viable following its energy
transition, such as biofuels and specialities like bitumen.
It is also looking at using different raw materials, or
feedstocks, such as recycled chemicals. Shell operates a plant
at Bukom that produces 800,000 tonnes of ethylene a year.
In Singapore, Shell said it would expand its solar power
generation, including utility-scale plants, build electric
vehicle charging points, provide carbon-neutral solutions for
its customers and study plastic waste recycling.
Shell is also expecting its first bunkering ship for
liquefied natural gas (LNG) to arrive in Singapore later this
year. It will be operated by FueLNG, a joint venture with Keppel
Offshore & Marine.
(Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan, John Geddie and Florence Tan
in Singapore; Editing by Edmund Blair, Christian Schmollinger
and David Clarke)