Interfax-China reported that a large scale refinery in Liaoning Province that is expect to started operations this month will become an additional source of fuel for private oil product traders.

Mr Shao Xiaotian an oil analyst with Pec365.com said the refinery, which operates under the name Liaoning Huajin Chemicals Ltd was designed to process 5 million tonnes of crude oil annually.

In 2006, China North Industries Group Corp China military holding group took control of Huajin Chemicals which had been a fertilizer and synthetic resin producer. Huajin Chemicals receives crude oil from China Zhenhua Oil Co Ltd a subsidiary of CNGC.

Because the refinery is not owned by China National Petroleum Corp or China Petrochemical Corp, Mr Shao believes it will become a source of fuel for oil traders similar to China National Offshore Oil Corp Huizhou Refinery.

Mr Shao said "The refinery will rely on private traders to a large extent as it has fewer sales channels than its competitors. However, he added that it may take a year or two for the new refinery to reach full operating capacity.”

(Sourced from Interfax-China)