Energy

China's refining capacity may rise 50%, Sinopec says

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-05-25 14:09

China, the world's second-biggest energy consumer, may increase its annual crude-oil refining capacity by 50 percent in the next five years to meet rising demand in the fastest-growing major economy.

Plants in China may be able to refine 750 million metric tons of crude oil annually by the end of 2015, compared with an estimated 507.5 million tons by the end of this year, China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, said in a report today.

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Overseas sales of goods, including machinery and electronics, rose a better-than-expected 30.5 percent last month, spurring fuel consumption by factories. Crude imports may reach a record this year, according to a Feb 4 estimate by China National Petroleum Corp, the country's biggest oil company.

"China's economy will continue to rise rapidly for a certain period of time," Sinopec Group said. "There is still room for car ownership in China to further increase, potentially boosting demand for oil products."

The country may have to rely on imports to meet as much as 70 percent of its crude oil needs in the next decade, the group said. Capacity is likely to increase between 6 percent and 7 percent annually over the next five years, it said.

The share of foreign participation in China's domestic refining capacity may rise to 31.5 million tons annually, or 4.2 percent of the nation's total, by 2015, from the current 10.5 million tons, it said.

Still, China should control the pace of refinery investment to avoid a supply surplus, Sinopec Group said.