Through a joint venture with Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc., Sinochem Corp. is to begin processing Kuwait's crude at its planned refinery in East China in January 2010. Negotiations are through with KPC for crude supply, and the project awaits approval of the central government.
The state-run Sinochem will own 51% stake in the joint project, while Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI) and Shell will hold 24.5% stake. Upon the completion of its first phase, the Fujian refinery will initially process five million tons a year, of fuel oil. The second phase will boost the total production capacity to a full-scale of 240,000 bpd by adding a crude distillation unit. An aromatic plant is also being considered. Sources in the NDRC have indicated that the project is currently under review and the preliminary conclusions assume swift approval of the project. There are also environment worries and some speculations within the NDRC about the necessity of having another refinery in the vicinity of a world-class integrated refining/petrochemical complex involving Fujian government, Sinopec Corp., ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco.
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