China’s changing refining market structure

China’s refining capacity has grown rapidly since the start of the 21st century through various innovations, expansions and construction of new facilities, as well as the country’s responsive reforms.
China promulgated its 11th Five Year Plan in 2006, and by the time it ended in 2010, refineries had already pushed their capacity to 304 million tons, a 9.2% yearly increase during the five year period. Although China’s growth rate has slowed down since 2011, when refining capacities grew by just 5.2% over the previous year to 520 million tons, it still had the fastest growing refining capacity in the world since the beginning of the new century, making it the second largest oil refiner, after the United States.
The country’s domestic refining market structure continues to change, and China has now established a diversified pattern, with Sinopec and PetroChina leading other state-owned companies like China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), ChemChina and China North Industries Group; as well as local refineries including Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum Group; and private and foreign companies like Total, Exxon Mobil, and Saudi Aramco. Sinopec accounted for 45.8% of the country’s total refining capacity in 2011, reaching 247.2 million tons. Petrochina had 31.4% of with a capacity of 169.3 million tons, while CNOOC had 5% at 27 million tons. Local refineries had a 17.8% share in total refining capacity with 96 million tons, while foreign companies accounted for 1.5% with 8.25 million tons. (June 7, 2012)