Reuters reported that China Petroleum and Chemical Corp is building a 160,000 barrel per day crude processing unit at an east China subsidiary expected to be completed by the end of 2013.

The source without elaborating that the expansion which will double the refining capacity of Yangzi Petrochemical Corp would treat lower quality crude oil.

The official said the new refining capacity was largely to serve petrochemical expansion at the same plant under which Yangzi planned to add 800,000 tonnes per year of ethylene capacity by the end of 2014. But the petrochemical expansion is still pending approval from the Ministry of Environmental Protection a key step before a final greenlight from the National Development & Reform Commission.

The official said "It's quite a challenge as the government has asked the company to cut the total amount of pollutants even with expanding production capacity. The environmental rules are getting more and more stringent."

The Yangzi plant in Nanjing city of Jiangsu province and on the bank of the Yangtze River is a leading petrochemical producer under top Asian refinery Sinopec Corp.

According to a report carried at a company newspaper China Petrochemical News on Wednesday that the expansions which include eight production units would raise the plant's total ethylene capacity to 2.3 million tonnes per year.

(Sourced from Reuters)