Central China's Karamay to Build National Petrochemical Base

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In Karamay, considered the starting point of the Xinjiang Autonomous Region's petrochemical industry, a chain of oil exploration, oil-engineering service, and research and development in petrochemicals is starting to take form. The city is also an important base for China's overall petrochemical industry.

The industry in Xinjiang has been seeing rapid development, and an industrial group with a GDP of more than $14.3 billion will be built in the Karamay area, making it one of China's most important energy production and conversion bases. The history of Karamay's petrochemical industry dates back to 1909 in Dushanzi. In 2002, the area's crude oil production exceeded 10 million tons, making it western China's first 10 million-ton oil field. In 2007, Karamay's crude oil production reached 12 million tons, and its natural gas production reached 2.9 billion cubic meters. China's oil industry achieved net growth in 27 consecutive years.

In the past 50 years, 26 oil and gas fields have been discovered in China: Karamay, Baikouquan, Huoshaoshan, Cainan, Shixi, Luliang, Pengwu and Mahe. Accumulatively, more than 200 million tons of crude oil (about 4.3 million barrels per day) and more than 30 billion cubic meters of natural gas have been produced.

In recent years, two large petrochemical complexes, Dushanzi Petrochemical and Karamay Petrochemical, have been established. Their combined annual treatment capacity exceeds 10 million tons. More than 300 types of petrochemical products are produced each year. In 2007, the two petrochemical companies processed more than 8.8 million tons of crude oil (about 188,500 barrels per day) and produced more than 230,000 tons of ethylene.

Under the framework of China's West Development Initiative and the westward focus shift of China's oil strategy, construction on the China-Kazakhstan, Dushanzi-Zhenzhou oil pipelines, the 5 million-ton Karamay refinery and the 10 million-ton Dushanzi ethylene project are in full swing.

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