CNOOC and Shell agree JV plant

China's third largest oil producer, CNOOC, has signed a deal with Royal Dutch/Shell to build a US$4.3bn petrochemicals plant in Guangdong province's Daya Bay Economic and Technological Development Zone. Construction of the project, owned 50-50 by the partners, will start in early 2003 and should be completed in the third quarter of 2005. The plant will produce annually 2.3m tons of petrochemicals, including 800,000 tonnes of ethylene and 43,000 tons of propylene.