China overtook the United State as the world's biggest oil refiner in 2022, with total refining capacity exceeding 980 million t/y, compared to 897 million t/y in the US, according to the data from OilChem and EIA.
China CDU Capacity in 2022 (million t/y)
|
Enterprise |
CDU Capacity |
|
Sinopec |
310.40 |
|
PetroChina |
224.85 |
|
CNOOC |
50.80 |
|
Independent Refineries |
380.65 |
|
Others |
15.00 |
|
Total |
981.70 |
Source: OilChem
Seen from above, China's three oil giants had a capacity of 586.05 million t/y in 2022, and if added other state-owned or central-backed refineries, total refining capacity could reach 601.05 million t/y, accounting for 61.69% of China's total, data from OilChem showed.
Refining capacity of China's independent refineries totaled 380.65 million t/y, with 172.35 million t/y from Shandong independent refineries. Besides, Shandong Yulong Petrochemical's 20 million t/y CDU capacity was approved and expected to be commissioned by end 2023, making a big step forward the balanced development of oil refining and downstream petrochemical product production.
Oil refineries were mostly concentrated in East China, with refining capacity of 390 million t/y, accounting for 39.53% of China' total, while East China's independent refineries mainly clustered in Shandong, where 56 refineries were in stable operation with a total refining capacity of about 220 million t/y, accounting for about 22.41% of China's total. Northeast China and South China ranked the second and third place, accounting for 18% and 14.81% respectively of total refining capacity in China.
China New CDU Capacity over 2023-2026 (million t/y)
|
Enterprise |
New CDU Capacity |
Production Time (E) |
|
Sinopec Zhenhai Refining and Chemical |
11.0 |
2023 |
|
Yulong Island Refining and Chemical Integrating Project Phase 1 |
20.0 |
2024 |
|
CNOOC Ningbo Daxie Petrochemical |
6.0 |
2024 |
|
Xuyang Group Hebei Caofeidian Refining and Chemical Integration Project |
15.0 |
2025 |
|
North Huajin Refining and Petrochemical |
15.0 |
2025 |
|
Gulei Refinery |
16.0 |
2026 |
|
Total |
83.0 |
|
Source: OilChem
With rapid development of refining and chemical integration projects, OilChem expects China's oil refining capacity will continue to grow in the future, with total new capacities to reach 83 million t/y by 2026, while backward capacity will be eliminated or integrated, especially for refining capacity of less than 2 million t/y.
2018-2022 Oil Refining Capacity of China Refineries (million t/y)
Source: OilChem
Written by Sunny Fang, fss@oilchem.net
Edited by Navy Liu, navy@oilchem.net
