PetroChina may delay two 10 mm-ton oil refining projects

PetroChina will possibly put off the construction of two 10-mm-ton oil refining projects, said insiders from its parent China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC). The delay is ascribed partly to the markdown competition and the growth slowdown in the chemical industry as well as the changing economic conditions, analysts guess.
One of the two projects is an oil refining complex to be located in Dushanzi, an oil-rich district in the north-western region of Xinjiang. It is composed of a 10-mm-ton oil refining project and a 1.2-mm-ton ethylene project.

With an approximate investment of nearly CNY 30 bn, PetroChina plans to construct 20 sets of oil refining equipment and 12 sets of chemicals production facilities there. The other one is a new-type 10-mm-ton oil refining project that situated in Qinzhou, a port city in the south-western of Guangxi. It will be capable of providing 6.9 mm tons of gasoline, diesel oil and other petrochemical products a year for the south-western region.
Previously, the oil giant planned to put the project into operation at the end of 2009. Currently, however, the timetable seems to be changing and the construction will unlikely be completed this year.

In recent years, its parent has paid attention to the oil refining industry. It has had approximately 29 refining subsidiaries in such cities as Fushun, Daqing, Dalian, Jinzhou in Northeast China, and Lanzhou in Northwest China. By the end of 2007, these subsidiaries had been capable of refining crude oil of 140 mm tpy.
CNPC is predicted to have an annual oil refining capacity of approximately 240 mm tons in 2015 and raise its ethylene production capacity by more than 200 % to 7 mm tpy at that time.

As one of the country's three biggest oil and gas producers, it will continue to strength oil and gas prospecting in 2009. It will make great efforts to stabilize the 40-mm-ton output of Daqing Oilfield, and surpass the 20-mm-ton turnout milestone in Changqing Oilfield, increase the production in oilfields based in Southwest China and Jilin Province, and boost its overseas projects.
This year, CNPC will complete the western part of the No. 2 West-to-East Gas Pipeline, accelerate the construction of its eastern part, and put more pipelines into production. Particularly, the second-phase project of the Sino-Kazakhstan Crude Oil Pipeline is scheduled for operation in October 2009.