China's state-controlled Sinopec has started its 200,000 b/d Zhanjiang refinery in the southern province of Guangdong.
Operations began yesterday at the refinery's crude units and some secondary units, Sinopec said. The 40bn yuan ($5.6bn) project also includes an 800,000 t/yr ethylene plant.
Zhanjiang is designed to process Kuwaiti crude. Sinopec took delivery of the second crude cargo for the refinery earlier this month as it geared up to start operations. The crude was likely injected into a 5mn bl storage facility that Sinopec completed in May. The Zhanjiang refinery has its own port with 34mn t/yr of throughput capacity including berths capable of receiving 2mn bl very large crude carriers.
The refinery's main products are gasoline that meets the China 6 emissions standards, diesel, aviation kerosine and "high-end" chemical products, Sinopec said. It is targeting markets in southern and southwest China as well as export. Commercial operations are expected to start in July.
Zhanjiang is the first new refinery to come on line in China since the two 400,000 b/d private-sector plants operated by ZPC and Hengli Petrochemical started operations last year.
