China expects local oil supply to increase

China’s major refining enterprises and local refineries have been endeavoring to raise their output capacity this year by adding new refining units or expanding their existing facilities, which will accordingly increase the nationwide product oil supply. Among the new refining facilities pending for operation will be China National Petroleum Corporation’s (Sinopec) 10 million ton per year (tpy) greenfield refinery in Qingdao, which is scheduled to start operations at the end of September; China National Offshore Oil Corporation’s (CNOOC) 12 million tpy greenfield refinery in Huizhou in South China, which is to come onstream in November; and Sinopec’s Dushanzi refinery in Xinjiang, northwest China, which will expand its capacity from six million tpy to 10 million tpy and go into operations before the end of 2008. Tian Chunrong, a senior engineer with the Information Department of Sinopec, said that since the growth of demand for oil products decreased with the economic slowdown, tight supply of oil would ease once the newly added refining capacities go onstream. (September 8, 2008)