04-05-09 China aims to eliminate all small refining facilities with an annual crude processing capacity of or below 1 mm tpy by 2011, the National Development and Reform Commission said.
In addition, small refineries with 1 mm-2 mm tons of refining capacity will also be gradually closed down by then, it said. The government will also prohibit new refining projects for bitumen production or heavy oil processing, it added.

Most of China's small refining facilities belong to independent refineries, known as teapots, which had a total crude processing capacity of around 88 mm tons, or about 1.8 mm bpd, by the end of last year. Only eight refineries with a total annual capacity of 26.7 mm tons have individual refining capacities of more than 2 mm tpy.
State-owned oil giants such as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. and PetroChina also have small refining facilities under 2 mm tons, but the total refining capacity of such facilities isn't known.