By the OGJ Online Staff
HOUSTON, May 22 -- Chevron Phillips Chemical Co. LP, Houston, has decided to withdraw from joining PetroChina Co. Ltd. in the construction of an ethylene cracker in northwestern China.
PetroChina attributed Chevron Phillips' withdrawal to the company's corporate restructuring.
It said the construction of the 600,000 tonne/year ethylene cracker is not its top priority now, and it is in no hurry to seek a substitute foreign company for the cracker's construction.
The cracker was to be located at Lanzhou Petrochemical Corp. At that time, Lanzhou Petrochemical, in Lanzhou city, was owned by China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec).
Lanzhou was transferred to China National Petroleum Corp., the parent company of PetroChina, in 1998.
Chevron Phillips' withdrawal is likely to result in construction of the cracker being indefinitely postponed. The original startup date was 2005.
