Sinopec plans major oil refinery expansion in Xinjiang
16 February 2012
China's largest oil refining company, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), has announced plans to significantly expand its oil refining plant in the Xinjiang region. Sinopec has a single refinery in Xinjiang, at Tahe, while rival PetroChina Co has three in the region.
Sinopec will double output at Tahe to 200,000 barrels per day by 2015
The company plans to spend 53 billion yuan ($8.41 billion) doubling output at Tahe to 200,000 barrels per day by 2015. The refinery currently uses only crude oil from Xinjiang, and Sinopec intends to expand crude oil production in the area to supply the increased demand.
China expects to increase its oil refining capacity to 700 million metric tons per year by 2015, up more than 21% on this year's projected total of 578 million metric tons.