Sinopec shuts down refinery in Guangdong

Sinopec said it has decided to suspend operations at three of its facilities in Guangdong. It said the decision was made following a news report by China’s CCTV citing criticisms the Ministry of Environmental Protection leveled at the three units, which are Guangzhou Petrochemical Co., Zhanjiang Dongxing Co., and Zhanjiang New Zhongmei Chemical Industries. CCTV reported that inspections by the ministry had discovered improper discharge of wastewater from the Dongxing refinery, while the Guangzhou refinery was faulted for improper storage of hazardous materials, posing a potential pollution threat.
Sinopec said it will conduct a thorough investigation of the three facilities and will also assess existing systems throughout the entire country. The company expressed its regret that operations in its three subsidiaries did not adhere to the company’s philosophy and strategy, and violated the company’s management system. A source said that the outages may last two to three months. The source added that Sinopec intends to import products from other provinces to make up for the shortfall in supply.
The 13.5 million metric ton/year (271,110 bpd) Maoming refinery, Sinopec’s third in the province, is running normally, the source added. Traders in Guangdong said the outages may not have a serious market impact in the province as Sinopec’s commercial inventories of oil products are expected to be high as demand has tapered off due to the weakening economy. (September 27, 2012)