Sinopec Begins Operation of 8 Million-Ton Hainan Petrochemical Project

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (NYSE:SNP) (Sinopec) (Beijing) has begun commercial operation of the 8 million-ton-per-year Hainan Petrochemical refining project on July 1. The plant is expected to produce 5 million tons of gasoline and Euro III diesel, as well as 1.2 million tons of gasoline and Euro IV diesel.

The project was considered one of Sinopec's key construction projects, with a budgeted investment of $1.72 billion. Actual investments totaled $1.68 billion. Hainan Petrochemical comprises 15 manufacturing facilities, auxiliary public-use infrastructure, docks for crude oil and product oil, and oil storage and transportation facilities. Construction began in September 2004, and the project's main facilities were completed in mid-2006. The plant will help to maintain a steady supply of product oil to the Pearl River Delta and southwestern China.

In 2007, the plant processed about 171,000 barrels per day (BBL/d) of crude oil. It also produced about 7.4 million tons of other petroleum-related products. In the first six months of this year, the plant processed about 86,000 BBL/d of crude oil and produced about 3.7 million tons of petrochemical products. The production rate of high-value-added products exceeded 90%. In 2008, the plant's designed comprehensive energy consumption rate has been lowered by 11.8%, an 8.3% decrease compared with 2007.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is a marketing information service specializing in industrial process, energy and financial related markets with products and services ranging from industry news, analytics, forecasting, plant and project databases, as well as multimedia services.