In a recent announcement made by Huajin which is a unit of China’s state-controlled oil major Norinco, it was revealed that construction of its long mooted 300,000 b/d refinery project will soon start at Panjin in the Liaoning province.

Huajin will have a 71% stake in the project with the remaining 29% held by local government owned Sincen. Earlier there were three partners in the project including Huajin, Sincen, and Saudi Aramco which opted out of the project due to its capital expenditure cuts because of coronavirus constraints.

Huajin and Sincen set up a joint venture during last December with a total registered capital of around USD 3.85 Billion. The initiation of the project took several years due to delays from the Saudi side.

The petrochemical complex at Panjin will be comprised of over 32 units including the 300,000 b/d refinery, 1.65 million tonnes per year Ethylene, and 2 million tonnes per year capacity for Paraxylene.

The project is supported by the Liaoning Government which has aims to turn its conventional refining bases into large plants with integrated petrochemical units. The project is envisaged under the government’s national refining and petrochemical industrial plan.

Huajin’s existing 160,000 b/d plant in Panjin has been operating at nameplate capacity but the plant has been under maintenance since July. Huajin also owns a 500,000 tonnes per year Naphtha cracker.