China's Qinzhou submits 10 mil mt/year refinery expansion plan

03-Mar-09

As part of its stimulus package to revitalize the domestic oil and petrochemical industries, China plans to coordinate and supervise development of major oil and petrochemical projects such as refineries and ethylene plants. It could be a part of this plan, that a plan to double the crude processing capacity of a 10 mln tpa (200,000 bpd) greenfield refinery project currently under development in China's southwestern Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region has been submitted by local authorities to the central government for approval. This expansion plan is projected to add another 10 mln tpa of crude processing capacity, a 1 mln tpa aromatics unit, and a tank farm for storage of 3 mln tons of crude oil and 1 mln tons of oil products. PetroChina has been involved in the construction of the first phase 10 mln tpa Qinzhou refinery project since 2006. This phase was originally planned to be put on a trial run by the end of this year. The Yuan 15.3 bln (US$2.2 bln) first phase development of the project involves the construction of 11 sets of refining and auxiliary facilities, such as a 10 mln tpa atmospheric and vacuum crude distillation unit, a 2.2 mln tpa continuous reformer and a 4.1 mln tpa gasoil hydrogenation unit. Upon completion of the first phase, the refinery will be able to produce about 7 mln tpa of products, including gasoline, gasoil, naphtha, LPG and other petrochemical products.