Sinopec delays refinery; Saudi supply in doubt
Sinopec Group will delay the start-up of a $1.2 billion refinery in east China by at least nine months, adding uncertainties to a joint-venture and oil supply deal with Saudi Arabia, industry sources said.
By Agencies |
BEIJING: Sinopec Group will delay the start-up of a $1.2 billion refinery in east China by at least nine months, adding uncertainties to a joint-venture and oil supply deal with Saudi Arabia, industry sources said.
Sinopec, parent of Asia’s top refiner Sinopec Corp, aimed to start the 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in the coastal city of Qingdao around September 2008 or later, they said, versus the firm’s original target of the end of this year.
A Sinopec Corp official at the secretariat for the board of directors said on Thursday the refinery would be delayed slightly, but declined to elaborate. The Chinese energy giant has yet to finalise a deal for state-run Saudi Aramco to take a stake in the project, or how much crude the world’s top oil exporter will sell to the plant.
A delay means Aramco will have to readjust its supply plans into Asia, with China its main buyer in the region. Riyadh was expected to take a 25% stake in the Qingdao plant, its second China refinery deal, and supply up to 80% of the plant’s crude requirement.
“It’s not certain now — the deal with the Saudis,” said one source familiar with the situation. Officials at Saudi Aramco’s Beijing office were not available for comment.
Sinopec, parent of Asia’s top refiner Sinopec Corp, aimed to start the 200,000 barrels per day (bpd) refinery in the coastal city of Qingdao around September 2008 or later, they said, versus the firm’s original target of the end of this year.
A Sinopec Corp official at the secretariat for the board of directors said on Thursday the refinery would be delayed slightly, but declined to elaborate. The Chinese energy giant has yet to finalise a deal for state-run Saudi Aramco to take a stake in the project, or how much crude the world’s top oil exporter will sell to the plant.
A delay means Aramco will have to readjust its supply plans into Asia, with China its main buyer in the region. Riyadh was expected to take a 25% stake in the Qingdao plant, its second China refinery deal, and supply up to 80% of the plant’s crude requirement.
“It’s not certain now — the deal with the Saudis,” said one source familiar with the situation. Officials at Saudi Aramco’s Beijing office were not available for comment.
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