Aramco ramps up China refining capacity

RAMPING CAPACITY: Aramco has said new units to triple capacity at its Fujian refinery project in China will come online later this year. (Getty Images)

New units to triple capacity to 240,000 barrels per day (bpd) at China's Fujian refinery will start up this year and be fully on line by the end of the first quarter 2009, Saudi Aramco said on its website on Wednesday.

Aramco is a partner in a $5 billion project to boost the plant's capacity and add petrochemical units with China's Sinopec and US Exxon Mobil.

"The project... is now 75% complete and will start in stages during this year," Aramco said. "By the first quarter of 2009, the last phase of the project, the ethylene plant, is expected to be online."

The plant will process Aramco's heavy crude. The world's top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is the main supplier of crude to China, the world's second largest energy consumer.

The Fujian deal, first agreed in 2005, gave Aramco and Exxon a foothold in China's insular refining sector, dominated by state giants Sinopec and PetroChina.

"China is growing, and Saudi Aramco is committed to be a constituent to the Chinese energy demand," said Khalid Al-Buainain, Aramco senior vice president for refining, marketing and international.

Aramco is also in talks for a stake in Sinopec's new 200,000 bpd Qingdao plant, which started production in May.

Sinopec holds 50% of the Fujian plant, while Aramco and Exxon each hold 25%. (Reuters)

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