Sinopec initiates ethylene capacity expansion study at Fujian

Sinopec Corp., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Sinopec Group has plans to increase the capacity of its Fujian refinery by 100% to 480,000 bpd between 2010 and 2015. The JV between Sinopec, Exxon Mobil Corp and Saudi Aramco worth US$5 bln is currently undergoing an expansion of capacity from 80,000 bpd to 240,000 bpd by late this year. In addition, a MoU was signed between Sinopec and the local government of Fujian province thereby citing the firm's plan to initiate a feasibility study to augment the capacity at its ethylene cracker from 800,000 tpa to 1 mln tpa.