The 400,000 barrels-per-day (bpd) refinery will process Venezuelan heavy oil, thereby tripling oil sales from the South American nation to the world’s second-largest oil user.
A CNPC planning official was quoted by Reuters as saying construction will take three to four years to complete.
CNPC will own 60% and PDVSA 40% respectively in the refinery project, which secured approval from China’s environment watchdog and the state cabinet.
This will be the CNPC’s second project, following the start up its 200,000-bpd Qinzhou refinery in Guangxi in 2010.
CNPC along with its partners Qatar Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell are also considering a 400,000-bpd refinery and a 1.2 million ton-per-year ethylene complex in Taizhou in Zhejiang province.
China Petrochemical Corp, which operates refineries through China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, is a fuel supplier in China.
