Nansha Petrochemical Project

I think it’s very likely that there will be a relocation, because **strict measures are being taken regarding environmental protection these days! In recent years, many enterprises with severe pollution issues have been rejected outright during the approval process!

Secretary Wang decided not to proceed with the construction. They are considering another location instead

There are already too many refineries with a production capacity of tens of millions of tons in Guangdong Province; there is no need to build more. The local economy is not dependent on the petrochemical industry for growth, and oil consumption alone is not likely to increase significantly at present.

Most of the newly designed atmospheric and vacuum distillation units are equipped with light hydrocarbon recovery systems. Are there anyone who is very familiar with these systems? Please share your insights.

Light hydrocarbon recovery consists of two columns: one for gasoline absorption and another for gasoline stabilization; it’s quite simple

According to the petrochemical revitalization plan, the Nansha project is definitely going to be built.

The Nansha Oil Refining and Chemical Integration Project is jointly invested and constructed by Sinopec Corporation and Kuwaiti **Oil Company; it is controlled by Sinopec Corporation with China National Petroleum Corporation holding a stake in its development. The construction of the Nansha integrated oil refining and petrochemical project is of positive significance for adjusting the layout of China’s oil refining and ethylene industries, enhancing the competitiveness of China’s petroleum and petrochemical industry, improving the overall economic efficiency of Sinopec Corporation, and promoting local economic development. The Nansha oil refining and chemical integration project includes a 12 million tons per year oil refining facility, a 1 million tons per year ethylene plant, as well as some supporting utility systems. The refining facilities include units for atmospheric and vacuum distillation with a capacity of 12 million tons per year, delayed coking with a capacity of 3.4 million tons per year, hydrocracking with a capacity of 2.8 million tons per year, continuous reforming with a capacity of 1.2 million tons per year, hydrotreating with a capacity of 1.8 million tons per year, catalytic cracking with a capacity of 1.6 million tons per year, gas fractionation with a capacity of 360,000 tons per year, hydrofining of gasoline and diesel with a capacity of 3.8 million tons per year, alkylation with a capacity of 120,000 tons per year, partial oxidation of petroleum coke to produce hydrogen with a capacity of 1.1 million tons per year, and sulfur recovery with a capacity of 320,000 tons per year. The ethylene complex includes a 1 million ton/year ethylene plant, a 650,000 ton/year hydroprocessing unit for cracked gasoline, a 450,000 ton/year aromatics extraction unit, a 150,000 ton/year butadiene extraction unit, a 420,000 ton/year ethylene glycol plant, a 750,000 ton/year polyethylene plant (of which 500,000 tons/year is LLDPE and 250,000 tons/year is LDPE), a 450,000 ton/year polypropylene plant, a 250,000 ton/year butyl octanol plant, a 100,000 ton/year propylene oxide plant, as well as related supporting facilities and utility systems. The approved total investment for this project is approximately 35.713 billion yuan. Once the project is completed and put into operation, it is expected to generate an average annual sales revenue of 47.894 billion yuan, as well as an average annual after-tax profit of 3.593 billion yuan. This project has good economic benefits, strong competitiveness, and is economically viable. Quoted from http://www.nansha.gov.cn/tzcg/qyzc/200805/t20080527_15832.html

This is merely a unilateral pursuit by Guangzhou; the people in the Pearl River Delta, including those in Hong Kong and Macau, all oppose it. Given the construction projects in Jieyang over these past two years and the current situation, South China will experience an oversupply of refined oil products in 3 years, which will surely lead to an increase in exports – by then, it will no longer be worthwhile to build facilities in Nansha. Additionally, due to environmental assessment requirements, construction cannot actually begin in these years. However, given that Sinopec is jointly extracting oil in Kuwait as reported in the news these days, and the Nansha refinery operates in partnership with Kuwait, this should be advantageous. There are concerns related to environmental impact assessments and public opposition, but unfortunately due to the actions of certain leaders in Guangzhou, Sinopec made the wrong choice by selecting Nansha; if another location had been chosen, there would be no such objections, and development there would surely be on par with that of the Jieyang oil project.

These days, it’s very difficult to obtain environmental impact assessments for petrochemical projects; remote areas are certainly a bit better, but the corresponding investment will increase significantly, and the future market prospects for the products produced also need to be taken into consideration.

It seems that a compromise was reached later, allowing it to be built in Guangzhou. However, the construction in Guangzhou is quite poor, as the air quality there was already very bad; with the construction of refineries, the air quality is likely to become even worse.

According to online sources, a factory is being built in partnership with Venezuela.