CNPC to invest in high-sulfur sour crude research

China National Petroleum Corp., China’s second largest oil refiner, will invest 170 million yuan (US$25 million) in research on refining technologies for high-sulfur sour crude. The company aims to develop its own set of technologies to process heavy oil supplied by Venezuela, after reviewing its experiences refining crude produced from the local Liaohe and Karamay oilfields, the company said in the report. As China will be diversifying its crude supply sources and increasing the amount of heavy crude it imports, it will build large-scale domestic refineries capable of handling such crude. (December 19, 2008)