PetroChina Huabei to delay refinery expansion by two years

China’s Huabei Petrochemical Company, a subsidiary of oil major PetroChina, is expected to double its refining capacity by the end of 2014, two years behind its original plan, industry officials said on May 7.
PetroChina had initially planned to complete the capacity expansion to 200,000 barrels per day (bpd), from the current 100,000 bpd, by the end of 2012.
“The previous deadline was too optimistic. Now we expect construction of the project to finish at the end of 2014 and the refinery to start operations in early 2015, since a lot of things cannot be settled for sure, such as the equipment purchase,” said one official with direct knowledge of the expansion plan.
The 10 billion yuan (US$1.6 billion) expansion project also includes a 1.3 million ton-per-year continuous reformer and a 2.2 million ton-per-year diesel hydrocracking unit, according to local oil authority website www.sh.cangzhou.gov.cn.
After the expansion, Huabei Petrochemical will be able to provide National IV standards gasoline and diesel fuel to Beijing, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
National IV fuel standards for automotive diesel fuel are similar to Europe’s Euro IV quality with a sulfur content of 50 parts per million (ppm).
The Huabei refinery is in Renqiu City, Hebei province, 150 km south of Beijing.
(May 7, 2013)