ExxonMobil and its partners, Sinopec, Fujian Province and Saudi Aramco, celebrated on Wednesday the full operation of China's first integrated refining and petrochemical facility with foreign participation. This facility, the Fujian Integrated Refining and Ethylene Joint Venture Project, will help meet the region's growing need for fuels and chemical products. “Our participation in this world-class complex illustrates our commitment to the region and to provide our customers with the products they need,” said Rex W. Tillerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Exxon Mobil Corporation, who attended a ceremony in Quanzhou to mark the occasion. “This is an unprecedented partnership built on years of collaboration. The support from our partners will help ensure the safety, reliability and best-in-class performance of these facilities.” More than $4.5 billion was invested in the complex, which tripled the capacity of the existing refinery to 240,000 barrels per day to produce transportation fuels and other refined products. In addition, the project added a new petrochemical complex that includes 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 a 700,000 tons-per-year paraxylene unit. The complex also features a state-of-the-art 250 megawatt cogeneration facility, which will meet the majority of the site's power demands. Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat or steam from waste energy, resulting in lower operating costs and significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Tillerson said integration between the refining, chemicals and fuels marketing operations provides significant synergies and helps protect overall profitability. For example, a benefit of integrating refining and chemicals facilities is the synergy of feedstocks: refining streams are used as feedstock in the production of petrochemicals while byproducts from the chemicals' facilities are sent back to the refinery for conversion to high-value products, like motor fuels. Integration of manufacturing sites, like Fujian, allows ExxonMobil to maximize operating flexibility and capture associated cost savings. The complex is jointly owned by the Fujian Petrochemical Company Limited (50 percent), ExxonMobil China Petroleum and Petrochemical Company Limited (25 percent) and Saudi Aramco Sino Company Limited (25 percent). It also is fully integrated with the Fujian Fuels Marketing Joint Venture 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 venture manages and operates approximately 750 service stations and a network of terminals in Fujian Province. Aramco is in discussion with Sinopec to invest in the Chinese refiner's 200,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) Qingdao refinery in east China, Saudi Aramco's Chief Executive Khalid Al-Falih said on Tuesday. Sinopec said last week that it was very hopeful that the two sides would reach a deal. Al-Falih also said they had yet to pin down the timing for supplying 1 million bpd of crude to China, a target that Sinopec has said would begin next year. “We have not pinned down the timing, but we are always ready to meet China's demand,” Al-Falih said.
