Sinopec Luoyang submits proposal to build commercial oil storage

Wei Wenbo, president of the China Petroleum Corporation (Sinopec Group) refinery in Luoyang has submitted a proposal to the Chinese government to construct a commercial facility in Henan province, which would be able to store 4.5 million metric tons or 33 million barrels of crude oil. “We have a refinery, we have a pipeline, and we are just missing commercial storage,” Wei said. This year, the refinery is expected to process 8 million tons of crude oil, up from 2011’s 6.6 million tons. Various upgrades, including the construction of a unit for the production of paraxylene, will increase the refinery’s capacity to 18-20 million tons by 2020. Wei said that Sinopec Luoyang plans to build a pipeline with the capability to ship 20 million tons of crude oil annually from Shandong to Luoyang by 2020. He said that by that time, the refinery will also be able to produce gasoline that would meet Euro 4 standards. (March 6, 2012)