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The Yunnan Petrochemical refining project is scheduled to come online in the second quarter of next year. Meanwhile, the Yunnan Petrochemical refining project, which is an important component of the China-Myanmar oil and gas pipeline project, has not yet begun operations. The Yunnan refining project is officially known as the Sino-Saudi joint venture Yunnan 13 million tons per year refining project. It is located in the Anning Industrial Park in Yunnan Province, covering a total area of 300 hectares. The estimated total investment for its development, as approved in the feasibility study, is 29.207 billion yuan. Currently, there are 790 employees working there. Once the project is in operation, it will be able to process around 50% of the crude oil through pipelines. Reporters on site observed that the construction work is now basically complete, and the project has entered the pre-commissioning phase prior to actual operation. Regarding the official commissioning date, Ding Kebei, vice general manager of Yunnan Petrochemical, revealed that it is planned for the second quarter of next year. In fact, this is a delay compared to the originally planned launch within this year. Ding Kebei explained, “Firstly, the production plan arranged by the group company is for the second quarter of next year.” ； Secondly, there are still a few details regarding the pipeline transportation agreement that need to be finalized for the crude oil procurement, but no major obstacles remain in terms of that agreement. ” Furthermore, as a joint venture between CNPC and Saudi Aramco, once the project is operational, crude oil will be imported from Saudi Arabia via the China-Myanmar crude oil pipeline. Speaking about the current cooperation with Saudi Arabia, Ding Kebei said that CNPC and Aramco have signed some letters of intent for cooperation; currently, Aramco contributes around 39% of the funding, with the remaining amount to be covered by the Chinese side. However, negotiations between the two parties are still ongoing. It will help alleviate the oil shortage in the southwest region. Yunnan is located in a remote area, and its transportation infrastructure is underdeveloped; therefore, the majority of refined oil has to be transported into the province by rail, which results in challenges such as difficult terrain, hazardous roads, and high costs. “The distribution patterns of refined oil characterized by shortages of both oil and gas, as well as the transportation of oil from the north to the south, also constrain the economic and social development of Yunnan to a certain extent. The completion of the Yunnan Petrochemical refining project will significantly alleviate the supply and demand imbalance of refined oil in the southwest region, reduce the costs associated with transporting refined oil, and make Yunnan a key hub for the production and supply of refined oil. According to Zhao Jianchun, Party secretary of CNPC Yunnan Sales Company, the annual consumption of refined oil in Yunnan is currently over 10 million tons. Among this, CNPC holds a 39.8% market share, Sinopec holds a 55.2% share, with the remainder coming from private enterprises. All refined oil must be imported by these companies from other regions. “However, once the Yunnan petrochemical plant comes online next year, its products will be able to meet the market demand in Yunnan.” According to the plan, once operational, Yunnan Petrochemical will be able to produce 3.33 million tons of National V gasoline, 5.47 million tons of National V diesel, 1.5 million tons of aviation kerosene, as well as 11 other by-products including liquefied petroleum gas and propylene. Yu Mingxiang, Secretary of the Party Committee of Yunnan Petrochemical, said that given the current production capacity and CNPC’s share of the market, the products produced will not be able to be fully absorbed in Yunnan after production starts; therefore, in the future it may be necessary to supply some areas in Guizhou and Sichuan (Panzhihua) as well. In addition to boosting the refined oil market and the downstream petrochemical industry, once put into operation, Yunnan Petrochemical will also generate substantial tax revenues for the local area. Yu Mingxiang revealed that the company has paid over 340 million yuan in taxes to the local authorities during the project construction phase. Once the refinery starts operating at full capacity, with a processing volume of 13 million tons per year, the total revenue is expected to reach around 80 billion yuan, generating taxes in the range of 14-16 billion yuan. Of this amount, taxes that will remain in the local area are likely to be around 25-26 billion yuan.