Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Apr. 25 -- China has granted approval to state-owned Yankuang Group, 58% owner of Yanzhou Coal Mining, to develop a coal-to-oil project in the northwestern province of Shaanxi.
The project will have an initial capacity of 1 million tonnes/year of oil products, according to Yangkuang Group Chief Financial Officer Wu Yuxiang. Capacity eventually will rise to 5 million tonnes/year.
Wu said Yankuang would participate mainly in the preliminary stage of the project and will later transfer development to Yanzhou Coal.
Other companies are becoming active in transforming coal into oil products to cope with rising oil demand in China.
A Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd.-led project to convert coal into 3.2 million tonnes/year of oil will be completed next year, while Japan plans to help Chinese companies liquefy coal (OGJ Online, Apr. 13, 2006).
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
