Chinese oil majors contesting to lead bio-fuels production
China's oil producing companies are currently competing for a leading position in the development of bio-fuels, which
are considered the most viable alternative to fossil fuels, according to industry insiders who attended an industry
forum.
For example, China National Offshore Oil Corp., the country's third largest oil company, will strengthen its
alternative energy development activities by establishing a bio-diesel refining facility in southern China's island
province of Hainan by the end of the year, according to a CNOOC official at the 2007 China-ASEAN Forum on Developing
Petrochemicals and Biomass Energy Resource. The new facility, located in Hainan's Dongfang City, will produce 50,000
tons of bio-diesel annually in its first phase and will initially be fed with palm oil sourced from Southeast Asia.
In the meantime, China National Petroleum Corp., the country's largest oil company, also plans to establish two sets
of experimental bio-diesel production facilities. The company aims to construct one set of facilities in the city of
Nanchong in Sichuan Province, and another set with a capacity of 100,000 tons in Shandong Province.
CNPC Southwest Oil and Gas Field Branch has already signed an agreement with the municipal government of Panzhihua to
earmark RMB 2 bn ($ 262.5 mm) for the plantation of 120,000 hectares of physic nut in the city by 2015.
