Sinopec, Fujian Province, ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco(1) today
held an inauguration ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in
Beijing to mark the formal government approval of Joint Venture
Contracts and granting of business licenses for their two joint
ventures in Fujian Province - Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Company
Limited and Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Company Limited.
The two joint ventures, with a total investment of about US$5
billion, are the first fully integrated refining, petrochemicals and
fuels marketing project with foreign participation in China.
The Fujian Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project, located in
Quanzhou, Fujian Province, will expand the existing refinery from
80,000 barrels-per-day (4 million tons-per-year) to 240,000
barrels-per-day (12 million tons-per-year). The upgraded refinery will
primarily refine and process sour Arabian crude. In addition, the
project will construct an 800,000 tons-per-year ethylene steam
cracker, an 800,000 tons-per-year polyethylene unit, a 400,000
tons-per-year polypropylene unit and an aromatics complex to produce
700,000 tons-per-year of paraxylene. Support facilities including a
300,000 ton crude berth and power cogeneration will also be built. The
joint venture company, formally registered as "Fujian Refining &
Petrochemical Company Limited," will be owned by Fujian Petrochemical
Company Limited (FPCL) (50 percent), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and
Petrochemical Company Limited (25 percent) and Saudi Aramco Sino
Company Limited (25 percent). The project is expected to start up in
early 2009.
The Fujian Fuels Marketing Joint Venture, formally registered as
"Sinopec SenMei (Fujian) Petroleum Company Limited," will manage and
operate approximately 750 service stations and a network of terminals
in Fujian Province. It will be owned by Sinopec (55 percent),
ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Company Limited (22.5
percent) and Saudi Aramco Sino Company Limited (22.5 percent).
The ceremony was attended by Mr. Chen Jinhua, former Vice
Chairman, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference; His
Excellency Ali Al-Naimi, Minister of Petroleum & Mineral Resources,
Saudi Arabia; Mr. Huang Xiaojing, Governor, Fujian Province; Mr. Chen
Tonghai, President, China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group)
and Chairman, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.);
Mr. Abdallah S. Jum'ah, President & CEO, Saudi Aramco; and Mr. Steve
Simon, Director and Senior Vice President, Exxon Mobil Corporation
(NYSE:XOM). Other dignitaries from Chinese ministries, Saudi Aramco,
ExxonMobil, Sinopec and Fujian Province were also present.
Together, the Fujian Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project
and the Fujian Fuels Marketing Joint Venture will serve to meet
China's rapidly growing demand for petroleum products and
petrochemicals. Synergies from these two world-scale, integrated
businesses, closely coupled with the strengths of the four partners
and a long-term crude supply agreement with Saudi Aramco,
significantly enhance the competitiveness of this project, and help
ensure its world-class performance. It will also boost the development
of China's petrochemical industry and contribute to the economic
development of Fujian Province.
(1) Fujian Petrochemical Company Limited (FPCL) is owned 50% by
China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) and 50% by the
Fujian Government. ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical
Company Limited (ExxonMobil) is a wholly owned affiliate of Exxon
Mobil Corporation and Saudi Aramco Sino Company Limited (Saudi Aramco)
is a wholly owned affiliate of Saudi Aramco.
