Operating 27 refineries and petrochemical enterprises mainly sited in northeast and northwest China, CNPC boasts a primary crude processing capacity of over 160 million tons and ethylene production capacity of over 7 million tons per year. In 2022, we processed 164.9 million tons of crude and produced 105.74 million tons of refined products and 7.42 million tons of ethylene domestically.

We produce refined products, lube oil, and trademarked chemical products. We also operate overseas joint venture refineries in Kazakhstan, Chad, Niger, the UK, France, Japan and Singapore.

Large refining and chemical production bases

CNPC is one of China’s largest manufacturers/suppliers of chemical products in six categories, i.e. synthetic resin, synthetic fiber, synthetic rubber, urea, organic/inorganic chemical products and raw materials. We serve customers from different sectors including light industry, textile, automobiles, building materials, electronics, tourism, food processing, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals, etc.

By the end of 2022, the Company had a total of eight large integrated refining-petrochemical complexes and fourteen 10 Mt/a refineries in China. Meanwhile, it has seven ethylene production bases at Dushanzi Petrochemical, Daqing Petrochemical, Lanzhou Petrochemical, Sichuan Petrochemical, Jilin Petrochemical, Liaoyang Petrochemical and Fushun Petrochemical, respectively. A number of production facilities for special chemicals have been established, including Daqing Oilfield’s chemical unit, Fushun Petrochemical’s paraffin & alkyl benzene unit, Jilin Petrochemical’s fine chemicals unit, and Liaoyang Petrochemical’s aromatic hydrocarbon unit.

Sichuan Petrochemical’s Integrated Refining/Petrochemical Project

The project comprises a 10Mt/a atmospheric/vacuum distillation unit, a 3Mt/a residue hydrodesulfurization unit, a 2.2Mt/a wax oil hydrocracking unit, a 3.5 Mt/a diesel hydrotreating unit, a 2.5Mt/a heavy oil catalytic cracking unit, a 600kt/a gas fractionation unit, a 170kt/a MTBE unit, an integrated 2Mt/a continuous reforming + 600kt/a PX unit, a 65kt/a butene unit and a 300kt/a polypropylene unit. Launched in 2009, the project went on stream in 2013, and is capable of processing 10 million tons of crude and producing 800,000 tons of ethylene every year.

10Mt/a Refining and 1Mt/a Ethylene Project at Dushanzi Petrochemical

As one of the largest integrated refining and chemical plants in China, Dushanzi Petrochemical is capable of processing 10 million tons of crude and producing 1.22 million tons of ethylene a year, which is comprised of nine refining units and 12 chemical plants. On September 21, 2009, the entire plant became operational.

10 Mt/a Refining Project at Guangxi Petrochemical

Guangxi Petrochemical is the first large-scale refining base built by CNPC in southern China, mainly including more than 23 sets of production facilities including a 10Mt/a atmospheric-vacuum distillation unit, a 3.5Mt/a heavy catalytic cracking unit, a 2.2Mt/a continuous reforming unit, a 2.2Mt/a wax oil hydrogenation cracking unit, and auxiliary projects such as utilities, tank farms, a dock and a railway.

In November 2007, Guangxi Petrochemical’s 10Mt/a refining project was launched in Qinzhou. On September 6, 2010, its 10Mt/a refining project became operational. JEC, IPMT, ICMT and SPOM models were adopted in project design, engineering construction, operation commencement and the production process respectively, which dramatically improved engineering quality and management efficiency.

The company’s excellent management and operation was highly recognized by the International Project Management Association (IPMA) and won the Gold Award of Project Excellence in Mega-Sized Projects at the 27th IPMA World Congress in October 2013.

10Mt/a Refining Base at Dalian Petrochemical

As the largest crude processing base of China, Dalian Petrochemical has a primary processing capacity up to 20.5 million tons per annum. The company offers a wide variety of products including gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, paraffin, benzenes, polypropylene and EPS. Equipped with state-of-the-art automated systems, the production facilities are DCS-controlled. The company also boasts the first gasoline blending & movement automation system in China and the Manufacture Execution System (MES) for refining and chemical production as well as the Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) system.

Dalian Petrochemical is also one of CNPC’s major bases for export and transit shipment of petroleum products with an annual throughput capacity of 23 million tons through five wharfs and well-established ocean shipping and land transportation facilities. The 10kt/d reclaimed water treatment plant, the 5kt/d seawater desalination plant and the oil-gas recovery plant in operation can produce 15,500 metric tons of industrial freshwater from seawater and reclaimed water every day to cut down the yearly tap water consumption by 1.7 million tons.

10Mt/a Refining Base at Lanzhou Petrochemical

Lanzhou Petrochemical is the first large-scale refining base in West China to be constructed with a 10Mt/a refining capacity and 700kt/a ethylene production capacity. The company has a primary crude processing capacity of 10.5 million tons per annum with a compatible secondary processing capacity, all powered by the leading refining/chemical processing techniques in China.

Lanzhou Petrochemical has more than 90 production installations for gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel and lube oil base stock, etc. In addition to key chemical products like ethylene and synthetic ammonia, the company can produce a wide range of 400 specifications (grades) of petrochemical products, including synthetic resin, synthetic rubber, polypropylene, fertilizer, catalytic cracking catalyst, fine chemicals and organic agents, etc.

Aromatic Hydrocarbon Complex at Urumqi Petrochemical

The aromatic hydrocarbon complex at Urumqi Petrochemical is composed of a 800kt/a naphtha hydrogenation unit, a 1Mt/a continuous reforming unit, a 700 kt/a aromatic hydrocarbon extraction unit, a 1.8Mt/a disproportionate unit, a 4.3Mt/a adsorptive separation unit, a 3.3Mt/a isomerization unit, a 4.9Mt/a xylene distillation unit, and a 70,000 cum/hr hydrogen purification unit.

Paraffin and Alkyl Benzene Production Base at Fushun Petrochemical

CNPC is the largest paraffin manufacturer in China, delivering about 70% of China’s total paraffin products. Fushun Petrochemical of CNPC, which is capable of producing 300 grades of petrochemical products, is one of the world’s important production bases for paraffin and alkyl benzene.

Fushun Petrochemical has 77 production installations with a primary and secondary crude processing capacity of up to 11.5 million tons per annum. The company produces 3.6 million tons of chemicals each year, including ethylene, alkyl benzene, polystyrene, acrylonitrile and wax products.

Aromatic Hydrocarbon Production Base at Liaoyang Petrochemical

Liaoyang Petrochemical is one of China’s leading Russian-sourced crude processors and aromatic hydrocarbon manufacturers. The company is equipped with 79 large-scale refining and chemical processing installations.

The hydrogenation plant is capable of carrying out hydrocracking, hydrofining and delayed coking processes. It can supply over 4 million tons of high-grade diesel fuel to market every year while providing sufficient industrial chemicals for downstream operations. Meanwhile, as a major manufacturer of aromatic hydrocarbon and its derivatives in China, the company produces one million tons tons of paraxylene, 400,000 metric tons of benzene, 140,000 metric tons of orthoxylene, 800,000 metric tons of PTA and 140,000 metric tons of adipic acid every year.

Refining & Chemical Joint Ventures

Dalian West Pacific Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (WEPEC)

Dalian West Pacific Petrochemical Co., Ltd. (WEPEC) is a joint venture refinery of PetroChina, a holding company of CNPC, and Dalian Construction Investment.

WEPEC became operational at the end of 1997 with a primary crude processing capacity of 10 million tons per annum. The company currently has 18 state-of-the-art production installations mainly designed for high-sulfur crude processing, offering a range of products covering 50 grades from 19 categories, including unleaded gasoline, light diesel oil, aviation kerosene, lamp kerosene, naphtha, fuel oil, LPG, polypropylene, sulfur, high-grade paving asphalt and modified asphalt, etc. All the products are hydrofining processed and sold in China as well as a dozen of countries and regions including Japan, Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam.

Guangdong Petrochemical’s 20Mt/a Heavy Oil Processing Project

Guangdong Petrochemical’s 20Mt/a Heavy Oil Processing Project is a joint venture between CNPC and PDVSA of Venezuela. Managed and operated under a shareholding system, the project represents the first downstream project under the integrated energy cooperation agreement between China and Venezuela.

CNPC’s proprietary delayed coking technology is introduced to process extra heavy oil from Venezuela. Once the JV becomes operational, the produced gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel products will be in compliance with Euro IV emission standards, or even Euro V standards.

Overseas

CNPC operates overseas joint venture refineries in Kazakhstan, Chad, Niger, the UK, France, Japan and Singapore.

Shymkent Refinery in Kazakhstan

Shymkent Refinery is located in the south of Kazakhstan and was put into operation in 1984. It is one of the top three refineries in Kazakhstan, with a designed processing capacity of 6 million tons per annum.

CNPC acquired PetroKazakhstan in 2005 and became one of the two substantial shareholders of Shymkent Refinery. CNPC and KazMunayGaz each have 50% stakes in Shymkent Refinery.

Shymkent Refinery mainly deals with crude oil from Siberia and Kazakhstan with a level of processing of 59%. Its products include A-76, АИ-93, АИ-95, and А-80 gasoline, diesel fuel, fuel oil, LPG and jet fuel, etc.

Launched in 2014, the renovation project of Shymkent Refinery was pushed ahead in two phases. The Phase I renovation project started operation on June 30, 2017, improving the gasoline quality from the Euro II standard to the Euro IV and Euro V standards in order to meet Kazakhstan’s clean fuel requirements. On September 28, 2018, the Phase II renovation project of Shymkent Refinery in Kazakhstan became operational. With the completion of Phase II, Shymkent Refinery deepened crude oil refinement and increased its light oil yield remarkably. It has become a modern refinery with complete processing that is up to environment protection standards.

Grangemouth Refinery

In 2011, PetroChina International (London) Co., Ltd and INEOS established two joint ventures, PetroIneos Trading and PetroIneos Refining. As an important part of PetroIneos Refining, Grangemouth Refinery is currently the only refinery in Scotland.

Conveniently located on the southern coast of Scotland, Grangemouth Refinery is a port refinery with an annual processing capacity of 10.5 million tons of crude oil and a storage capacity of 970,000 cubic meters.

Lavéra Refinery

In 2011, PetroChina International (London) Co., Ltd and INEOS established PetroIneos, a joint venture which comprises PetroIneos Trading and PetroIneos Refining. Lavéra Refinery is PetroIneos Refining’s major asset in France.

Lavéra Refinery is the largest refinery in southern France and the fourth-largest refinery in the country. Situated on the Mediterranean coast close to Marseille, the refinery enjoys an advantageous geographical location with complete logistics facilities, and is a key pillar for energy supply and the most profitable refinery in southeastern France. Lavéra Refinery is capable of processing 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day, with storage capacity of 2.73 million cubic meters. It mainly produces jet fuel and diesel.

Osaka Refinery

In May 2008, CNPC and JXTG (renamed ENEOS in July 2020) entered into a cooperation agreement. Pursuant to the agreement, the parties established a joint venture, Osaka International Refining Company Limited (OIREC), which is 49% owned by CNPC. The refinery was founded in 1971 and now has a crude processing capacity of 115,000bpd. 

Zinder Refinery in Niger

The Zinder Refinery, the first modern refinery in Niger, is jointly operated by CNPC and the Nigerien government. It was completed and became operational in November 2011. Its products include gasoline, diesel oil and liquefied gas, etc., which are supplied to meet domestic demand in Niger and are partially sold to neighboring countries.

The Zinder Refinery includes a 1Mt/a atmospheric and vacuum distillation unit, a 600kt/a catalytic cracking unit, a 300kt/a diesel hydrogenation unit, a 100kt/a reforming unit, a 300kt/a gasoline sweetening unit, and three 1.2MW generator sets.

N’Djamena Refinery in Chad

The N’Djamena Refinery, jointly invested and constructed by CNPC and the Chadian Ministry of Petroleum, became operational in June 2011. It produces gasoline, diesel oil, aviation kerosene, liquefied gas, polypropylene, fuel oil, etc., and supplies electricity to N’Djamena, the capital of Chad.