China's top oil and gas firm, PetroChina, is raising the capacity of its naphtha cracker being built in Lanzhou by 25% to 450,000 tpa. This capacity increase will make the plant more cost effective. The project will bring Lanzhou's total ethylene capacity to 700,000 tpa, making it the largest petrochemical complex in China's western region. The 6-7 billion yuan (US$740-864 million) cracker to process naphtha into ethylene, is slated for completion by the end of 2006.
However, the upgraded scale is still below new crackers put on stream recently, or being planned in the country's booming eastern seaboard, as the economy in the western region is growing at a much slower pace.
21-Oct-05 
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