Anticipating Biden Shift to Renewables, Shell Shuts 53-Year-Old Refinery

Royal Dutch Shell has unveiled its intention to start the process of shutting down its refinery in Convent, near New Orleans as it waits for a buyer that will take over the plant that it has operated for more than five decades.

Rigzone, quoting Bloomberg sources, says the move to shut down the refinery which employs 675 people is in tandem with a decision by the supermajor to cut back drastically downstream i.e. refining activities.

Shell plans to dispose of 8 of the 14 refineries it owns in the United States of America.  The sites that survive the cull will comprise integrated refineries that are operated alongside chemical plants.

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Other American energy companies such as Marathon Petroleum and Phillips 66 are also cutting crude oil refining activities.

President Elect, Joe Biden, is committed to the Green New Deal, a plan to promote climate-friendly economic policy and investments. Oil industry players reckon this will see new regulations that favour renewable energy sources and investments and the likelihood of tougher hurdles for permits for fossil fuels projects.

Also Read: Shell to Close Major Refinery Amid Pandemic-related Slump in Fuel Demand

Meanwhile, chemical manufacturing giant, Ineos, last Monday announced a new subsidiary which will concentrate on producing and building clean hydrogen capacity in European countries.

Operating from the United Kingdom, the new unit will deploy the chemical industry giant’s electrolysis and hydrogen storage and handling expertise to build out renewable energy footprint in the transportation sector.