Follow-Up on the fire at PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical

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Follow-Up on the Fire at PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical

CNPC Issued World and China Energy Outlook 2050

Shaanxi Province to Support New Coal Chemicals Industry

Follow-Up on the Fire at PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical

PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical has three catalytic cracking units, and the fire was at one of them with the capacity of 1,400kt/a. The fire may cause output reduction of gasoline, because the catalytic cracker is a gasoline producing unit mainly. The catalytic cracker can also produce diesel, but this kind of diesel cannot be used by consumers directly. The catalytic diesel can only be used to blend with other components to produce qualified diesel. In addition, the diesel output takes up a small proportion in the product output of a catalytic cracker. Therefore, the fire will not cause a sharp decrease in its diesel output.

The fire will also impact the crude oil processing volume of the refinery. According to confirmed information from SCI, Dalian Petrochemical plans to cut its oil processing volume by around 200,000 tons after the fire, and its operating rate will decrease by around 12%. The Company’s crude distillation units’ operating rate was around 87.8% in July. 

A Fire Broke Out at PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical

According to SCI, a fire broke out at the heavy oil catalytic cracker of PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical Company at around 6:36 p.m. on August 17. The fire was caused by a broken seal in a feed pump. More than 600 firefighters put out the fire at the catalytic cracker at around 9:00 p.m., China Central Television reported. No abnormal emissions or pollution of citizens’ drinking water was caused by the fire, and no injuries were reported as of 10:00 a.m. on August 18. The crude processing operations of the refinery were not affected.

PetroChina Dalian Petrochemical Company has three crude distillation units with the total oil processing capacity of 20,500kt/year, and the capacity of its catalytic cracker is 5,700kt/year.

China is strengthening the environmental protection inspection and safe production checks at present. This incident may attract more attention on the safe production of state-owned refineries, as well as independent refineries. But no comments are available from the government and PetroChina now. 

CNPC Issued World and China Energy Outlook 2050

On August 16, CNPC Economics & Technology Research Institute issued the 2017 version of World and China Energy Outlook 2050. According to the report, China’s oil demand will reach the peak at 690 million tons in the year of 2030, and the oil demand will drop to around 12% of the global demand after 2030.China’s natural gas demand will continue rising in 2050, and China’s natural gas demand will take up around 15% of the global demand.

As of 2030, the oil demand in transportation and chemicals will cover 97% of the growth of China’s oil demand. Therein, the oil demand in transportation will take up 73% of the demand growth. The oil demand growth in transportation will be mainly backed by the increase in China’s vehicle ownership and civil aviation. New energy vehicles, bicycle-sharing and express trains are impacting the oil demand in transportation, but the oil demand from oil-fueled vehicles will still cover a big proportion.

Shaanxi Province to Support New Coal Chemicals Industry

Shaanxi Provincial Environmental Protection Department issued Guidelines on the Implementation of Petrochemical Industry's Adjustment and Transformation recently. The development of the new coal chemicals industry will be a main task in Shaanxi Province. The new coal chemicals industry plays an important role to diversify the chemical sources and fuels, considering the short supply of crude oil in China. But according to SCI, international crude oil prices are hovering at low levels, so petrochemical enterprises have fine profits. This will impact the development of the coal chemicals industry.