Sinopec and KPC officially launch construction of refinery-petrochemical complex

Refining joint venture partners China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) marked the official launch of the construction of the refinery-petrochemical complex on November 18 in Zhangjiang, Guangdong province, China. The project to build a 300,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery and a 1 million metric ton per year ethylene plant involves a total investment of 59 billion yuan (US$9.3 billion). The project was approved by China’s top economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) in March. It is expected to start operations in 2015. The refinery and its secondary units will be able to produce Euro 5-compliant gasoline, Euro 4-compliant diesel fuel and aviation jet fuel. It will also produce polyethylene, polypropylene, aromatics and ethylene glycol. (November 20, 2011)