China eyes 11 mln bpd oil refining capacity by 2015

BEIJING Oct 20 (Reuters) - China will raise its crude processing capacity to 550 million tonnes or 11 million barrels per day (bpd) by 2015, and lift output of refined oil products to over 300 million tonnes, according to an industry plan released on Tuesday.

The crude capacity target would be a quarter higher than the 440 million tonnes of capacity in 2011 planned by Beijing. [ID:nPEK173322]

China aims to increase annual crude throughput to 405 million tonnes or 8.1 million bpd by 2011, from 342.1 million tonnes in 2008.

A number of refineries will have a refining capacity of 400,000 bpd each and average capacity will be more than 100,000 bpd, according to guidelines compiled by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association and major oil companies and seen by Reuters.

The guidelines were detailed principles for a plan, announced by Beijing in May, to "adjust and revive" the petrochemical sector in the wake of the global economic downturn, and were endorsed by the central government, an official with the association said.

Only PetroChina's (0857.HK)(601857.SS) Dalian refinery and Sinopec's (0386.HK)(600028.SS) Zhenhai plant have crude processing capacity of 400,000 bpd, and a cluster of small refineries in eastern Shandong and southern Guangdong have capacities of less than 20,000 bpd in some cases.

Refining capacity at the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta and along the Bohao Rim are to account for an increasing share in China's total by 2015.

Production of ethylene will reach 21 million to 23 million tonnes by 2015, meeting 60-65 percent of domestic demand, the guidelines showed.

China plans to produce 15.5 million tonnes of ethylene by 2011. (Reporting by Jim Bai and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Chris Lewis)