CNOOC’s first refinery start-up delayed

The start-up of China National Offshore Oil Corporations (CNOOC) first oil refinery, a 240,000 barrel per day (bpd) plant in southern China, is expected to be delayed by nearly two months after heavy summer rains, company sources said. The refinery, located in the country’s manufacturing hub of Guangdong province, is now likely to be completed in November from the set target of September 30. Beijing has called on state oil firms to bring on line new plants to prevent widespread rationing in case another domestic fuel shortage occurs. The refinery, run by CNOOC, parent of CNOOC Ltd., is only the second new refinery this year to supply the world’s number-two oil user. “Earlier it was the ice storms that delayed delivery of some equipment. Then in June heavy rainfall in Guangdong almost brought construction works to a complete halt,” said one official familiar with the plant in the southern Chinese city of Huizhou. “It will be an optimistic goal that we start to produce on-specification fuels by the end of the year,” the official said. (July 21, 2008)