By an OGJ Online Correspondent
BEIJING, Sept. 4 -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) has signed a letter of intent with the Shandong provincial government to build a 10 million tonne/year refinery in Huangdao area of the coastal port city of Qingdao.
Cost was not disclosed. The proposed plant would be designed to process sour crude from the Middle East. It is expected on line by 2005.
Sinopec did not reveal whether it would seek foreign investment in the plant.
It owns three refineries in Shandong with combined capacity of 15 million tones/year, the largest being Qilu Petrochemical Corp., with capacity of 8 million tonnes.
In July, Sinopec bought 32 crude oil tanks and offsite facilities in Qingdao from the Port Authority of Qingdao, with capacity totaling 1.8 million cu m (OGJ Online, July 9, 2001).
