Rosneft, CNPC to complete preparatory phase for Tianjin refinery by year-end
MOSCOW. May 31 (Interfax) - Rosneft and CNPC plan to complete the preparatory phase for a project to build an oil refinery in Tianjin by year-end, said Liu Tienan, the head of state management in energy and the deputy chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission.
"If everything goes well, I expect that by year-end we will complete the preparatory phase of the joint Tianjin oil refinery," he said.
Rosneft (49%) and CNPC (51%) have set up a joint venture, Vostok Neftekhimia, that led to an agreement on a feasibility study for the project in 2010, as well as a groundbreaking ceremony on construction of the new facility.
The refinery will have capacity to process 13 million tonnes of oil a year, including about 9 million tonnes of crude delivered from Russia, delivered to the port of Tianjin via tanker and then along a 42-kilometer pipeline to the refinery. The market for output includes Beijing and Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and Shandong and the eastern coast. Rosneft and CNPC are also considering creation of a filling station chain.
A source in CNPC's senior management said the partners had agreed the feasibility study for the project but that the document has not been approved at the government level.
Investment in the project will total $5 billion. The refinery is to be completed before 2015.
Rosneft and CNPC might subsequently team up to create petrochemical production in conjunction with the refinery project.
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