Shell successfully completes project to increase production at its Western Canada refinery

Scotford Refinery debottlenecking will boost hydrocracker production capacity by 20% and enhance the facility's competitiveness

CALGARY, Dec. 1, 2016 /CNW/ - Shell today announced it has successfully completed a major growth project at its Scotford Refinery near Edmonton, Alberta that will increase hydrocracker production capacity by 20%.  The project was completed through the debottlenecking of the hydrocracker, a core refining unit for making transportation fuels, such as diesel and jet fuel.  The debottlenecking process replaces vessels, compressors and feed pumps to allow a greater volume of heavy crude oil to be processed.  

"The completion of this upgrade will enhance the performance and competitiveness of Scotford's integrated operations, which helps secure our position as an industry leader in this important region," said Lori Ryerkerk, Executive Vice President for Shell's global Manufacturing business. "This investment, in combination with other recent strategic investments, is a clear demonstration of Shell's ongoing commitment to our refining and chemicals portfolio."

The project will equate to a 14,000 barrel per day  increase in the unit's production and enable Scotford, one of North America's most efficient and modern refineries, to deliver more high-quality diesel, jet fuel, and gasoline to customers.

An integrated site with a bitumen upgrader, oil refinery, chemical plant and carbon-capture-and-storage unit, Scotford produces a full range of products for the Western Canadian market.

The project received a final investment decision in January 2015. It created 1,000 construction positions in the Edmonton area to install the new and modified equipment.

"Scotford is Shell's oil refining hub in western Canada. The enhancement of our hydrocracker increases our ability to process crude oil from Fort McMurray and strengthens our refining capability in Alberta," said Achim Schempp, General Manager for Scotford Manufacturing site. "It has been 17 months of hard work to complete this project. I'm proud of the collaboration that delivered this ambitious project safely, on time and on budget."

Notes to Editors

• Shell Scotford is one of North America's most efficient and modern hydrocarbon processing complexes. The Upgrader – a Shell-operated joint venture with Chevron Canada Ltd. and Marathon Oil Canada Corp. – processes 255,000 bbl/d of bitumen and the Refinery – a 100% Shell-owned business – processes 100,000 bbl/d of crude oil. Scotford makes a wide range of products, including a variety of fuels and feedstock for chemical plants.
  
  
• The debottlenecking process will allow an increase in production in the hydrocracker unit – a core refining unit for making transportation fuels – equivalent to 650,000 litres of jet fuel and 3 million litres of diesel per day.
  
  
• Shell Scotford is also the location of the Quest Carbon and Capture (CCS) Project. Quest is the world's first CCS project in the oil sands, and to date it has successfully captured and stored over 1 million tonnes of CO2.
  
  
• Shell Scotford employs around 1,300 staff and 700 long-term contractors plus another 10,000 short-term contractors each year.
  
  
• Shell Scotford is one of several integrated complexes that make up Shell's Global Manufacturing business. Other such integrated facilities operate in Singapore, Europe and the US Gulf Coast.
  
  
• Shell Global Manufacturing is part of an integrated value chain that converts crude oil into high-value products, which are moved and sold around the world for domestic, industrial and transport use.
  
  
• Shell has made strategic investments that grow the value and competitiveness of our manufacturing facilities and strengthen our presence in key markets. Recent investments include:
  
  
  • April 2015 – Upgrade of the Singapore ethylene cracker complex (ECC) on Bukom Island, the company's largest refining-chemicals integrated site, boosting production by more than 20%
  • November 2015 – FID announcement to build a new alpha olefins (AO) unit at Geismar, Louisiana chemical plant, making the site the largest AO producer in the world
  • December 2015 – FID announcement to build a new solvent de-asphalter unit at the Pernis, Netherlands refinery, the largest integrated refinery complex in Europe
    
    
• Today, our global manufacturing network includes interests in 23 refineries with the capacity to process more than 3.1 million barrels of crude oil per day (Shell share). About 35% of our refining capacity is in Europe and Africa, 39% in the Americas and 26% in Asia and Oceania.
  
  
• Our integrated global business helps us to share infrastructure and processing expertise and improves access to a variety of feedstocks. This gives Shell a competitive advantage over stand-alone refining companies.

Shell Canada Limited
Shell has been operating in Canada for over 100 years and employs over 8,000 people across the country. Our business is providing energy to Canadians and people around the world, and we are one of the few truly integrated oil and gas companies in Canada. This means we do everything from exploring for oil and gas, production, refining, the manufacturing process, and delivery to our customers at over 1,200 retail stations across Canada. Learn more at www.shell.ca

Cautionary Note

The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this announcement "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc  either directly or indirectly has control. Companies over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to "joint ventures" and companies over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". In this announcement, joint ventures and associates may also be referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management's current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management's expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as ''anticipate'', ''believe'', ''could'', ''estimate'', ''expect'', ''goals'', ''intend'', ''may'', ''objectives'', ''outlook'', ''plan'', ''probably'', ''project'', ''risks'', "schedule", ''seek'', ''should'', ''target'', ''will'' and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell's products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; and (m) changes in trading conditions. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell's 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2015 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader.  Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, 20 October 2016. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.

We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC.  U.S. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov. You can also obtain these forms from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330.

SOURCE Shell Canada Limited

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