Sinopec Establishes Coal-to-chemical Unit
BEIJING, Sep 29, 2012 (Menafn - SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) --Chinese oil giant China Petroleum Corp. (Sinopec Group) formally established a coal-to-chemical unit in Beijing on September 28.
The newborn, namely Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical Co., Ltd., sees Dai Houliang, senior vice president of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec, SHSE: 600028, SEHK: 0386, and NYSE: SNP), serve as its chairman and will mainly take charge of the investment and operation of coal-to-chemical business of the parent, construction of the coal-to-chemical projects, as well as professional management of the coal-to-chemical business.
The group planned to build six coal-to-chemical bases across the country from 2011 to 2015, with the bases spreading in Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Xinjiang Autonomous Region, Guizhou Province, Anhui Province, Henan Province and Ningxia Autonomous Region, each. And so far, it has made a substantial progress in five of them. It has planned to launch a coal-to-gas project with annual production capacity of eight billion cubic maters in the eastern Junggar area of Xinjiang, apart from conducting two natural gas pipeline projects. The one running from Xinjiang to Guangdong Province and Zhejiang Province, with designed investment of CNY 159 billion, will see annual gas transmission capacity hit 30 billion cubic maters. And the other one, running from Xinjiang to Shandong Province and with designed investment of CNY 86 billion, will see annual gas transmission capacity reach 30 billion cubic meters, too. In addition, it took part in a coal-to-chemical project with annual production capacity of 25 million tons of coals, 4.2 million tons of methanol and three million tons of dimethyl ether launched by Zhongtian Hechaugn Energy Co., Ltd. Designed investment of the project is CNY 4.1 billion and in Zhongtian Hechuang, China National Coal Group Cop. (ChinaCoal) and it each controls a 38.75 percent stake. Fu Chengyu, chairman of it, said that it aimed to establish a leading position in the domestic coal-to-chemical industry within eight to ten years.
Sinopec Great Wall Energy Chemical signed an agreement with the municipal government of Hebi City, Henan, over coal-to-chemical integration on September 27. Besides, it plans to invest in invest in a coal-to-gas project in Texas, US, with USD 1 billion.
The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the top Chinese price planner, released several bans on blind expansion of coal-to-chemical projects in the past five years. However, judging from the current situation, it is moving the bans. An analyst with Guosen Securities pointed out that in order to fight against an economic slowdown and help the domestic economy shift, there is a need for the nation to launch some large-sized projects.
(USD 1 = CNY 6.28)
Source: www.nbd.com.cn (September 29, 2012)
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