Shell buys Asia-based waste oil recycler to boost biofuels output

SHELL Eastern Petroleum, a unit of oil giant Shell, said on Tuesday (Nov 1) it has acquired Asia-based waste oil recycling firm EcoOils to expand its biofuels production.

The company will completely take over EcoOils’ subsidiaries in Malaysia and a 90 per cent stake in its Indonesian subsidiaries through the deal, Shell Eastern said in a statement but did not disclose the value of the investment.

“This acquisition provides secure access to a recognised, advanced feedstock, which can be used at Shell’s biofuels facilities to meet that aim,” said Sinhead Lynch, senior vice president for low carbon fuels at Shell.

EcoOils has a production capacity of 65,000 tonnes per year of spent bleaching earth oil, a type of recycled oil that can be used as feedstock for biofuel production.

Bleaching earth is a clay material used to absorb impurities during the palm oil refining process. REUTERS