China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) has been
given the green light to expand its Dushanzi Petrochemical Refinery
in northwest China's Xinjiang
Uygur Autonomous Region, a move that will make it the largest
refinery and petrochemical complex in the country.
Most of the crude oil for the facility will come by a
1,200-kilometer pipeline from Kazakhstan, a source that is being
exploited to ease the country's oil shortages. The refinery,
located in Dushanzi, will raise its processing capacity to 10
million tons per year from the current 6 million tons.
The refinery will also expand its ethylene production capacity
to 1.2 million tons annually, up from the present 220,000 tons each
year.
The expansion of the facility, which will cost 27.2 billion yuan
(US$3.3 billion), is expected to start soon and be completed by
2008.
The pipeline that will supply the crude oil links Atasu in
Kazakhstan to Dushanzi, and is China's first major land oil import
route.
Construction of the pipeline started last September. When the
first phase is completed by the end of this year, it will be able
to deliver 10 million tons of crude oil. It is set to double
capacity to 20 million tons with the completion of the second
phase.
Refinery management said that the lack of crude oil has kept the
facility operating below capacity, at about 4 million tons of crude
annually.
"When the China-Kazakhstan oil pipeline doubles the capacity in
the second phase, the plant may also expand its refinery capacity
beyond 10 million tons," said one manager.
(China Daily February 17, 2005)