PetroChina Sichuan refinery and petrochemical complex ready for trial run after repeated delays

19-Dec-13

PetroChina's US$6 bln refinery and petrochemical complex in Southwest China will be ready for trial production in weeks, more than a year later than originally touted due to repeated delays, as per officials in Reuters. A delay in adding some environmental facilities including a drainage system, which the local government has agreed to build, was the main reason for the latest postponement, said the official. Delays included one as local residents expressed concerns over safety following an earthquake in Sichuan in April. The start-up of the 200,000 bpd Sichuan facility is being closely watched as it is the first major refinery in China's landlocked southwest and will process crude from the remote Xinjiang region, as well as from Russia and Kazakhstan. It will also be one of the two major new refineries the world's second's largest oil consumer is expected to bring online in 2014. The other is the 240,000-bpd Quanzhou refinery, with investment by state-run Sinochem Corp. Quanzhou, in the southeastern province of Fujian, is expected to start in Q1-2014, delayed from an original timeline of mid-2013.