JV
Sinopec's Fujian plant up, running
By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-11-12 08:55
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 Quanzhou facility to mainly process Saudi Arabian crude. [China Daily] |
China's largest refiner Sinopec Group yesterday officially started commercial operation of the country's first joint venture integrated oil refining and petrochemical complex, which is expected to help meet the growing domestic need for fuels and chemical products.
The facility, located in Quanzhou, Fujian province, has a total investment of around 40 billion yuan ($5.86 billion), and is jointly owned and operated by Sinopec, US oil major ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco, the national oil company of Saudi Arabia.
Sinopec has a 50-percent stake in the venture, while ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco hold 25 percent each.
It is also China's largest integrated refining and chemical plant.
The integrated production facility will ensure the development of China's petrochemical industry, Sinopec Group president Su Shulin said yesterday.
The complex is also expected to improve oil products supply in Fujian and the coastal area.
The integration of oil refining and chemical production in one area means the project can make the best use of energy and reduce the environmental impact significantly, analysts said.
The Fujian complex can produce 7.46 million tons of refined oil, 1.28 million tons of plastics and huge amounts of other chemical products a year. Annual sales from the integrated plant will amount to 60 billion yuan, according to Sinopec.
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China has now become one of the top three markets for the Middle Eastern country's oil exports, and the country is one of the quickest-growing markets, said Khalid Al-Falih, Saudi Aramco's chief executive, yesterday.
Around half of Chinese oil demand is met by imports. At present, the Middle East, Africa and the Asia Pacific region are the three main oil import regions.
China's oil products consumption was 215 million tons last year, up 12 percent from a year earlier, according to the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association. Insiders estimated that this year's oil products consumption would see only a 3-percent growth due to the economic downturn.
Analysts said China's refined oil demand growth was expected to touch 8 percent next year, adding they were confident about a recovery in demand.
"In order to catch up with the growing domestic demand, we need to form more large-scale production bases, just like the one in Quanzhou," said Lin Boqiang, professor at Xiamen University.
The country will build three or four oil refining bases in the Pearl River Delta, Yangtze River Delta and Bohai Sea-rim economic zone.
