Oil giants fail environmental evaluation

China National Petroleum Corp and Sinopec, the two major oil providers in China, both failed to pass emission reduction goals for 2012.

The results, released by the Environmental Protection Ministry on Thursday, saw six State-owned companies pass.

Four indicators are used for the evaluation: chemical oxygen demand, which shows the concentration of organic matter in water; ammonia nitrogen, a major cause of eutrophication; and two airborne pollutants, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides.

The indicator for chemical oxygen demand for China National Petroleum Corp was reduced by 0.08 percent in 2012 compared to the 2011 level, much lower than the planned target – a reduction of 0.6 percent.

Sinopec's nitrogen oxide emissions for 2012 was originally set at zero growth compared with the 2011 level, but emissions increased by 1.28 percent.

The other subjects of the evaluation, the local governments of 31 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions, as well as the State-owned companies, passed the test.

Officials from the ministry said they will hold the two oil providers environmental impact assessment reports for all new projects, modification projects, and expansion projects, other than those including the upgrading of oil quality and energy saving, as punishments.

This means the two companies will not be eligible to start related construction work until the punishment is lifted.