China may have overhang by year-end

With about 30 million metric tons per year of  new refining capacity about to be put into operation during the second half, Gong Manying, director of CNPC-run China Petroleum Planning and Engineering Institute, estimates that China will have an overhang of 15 million tons of oil products by the end of the year. The new refining capacity includes 2.5 million metric tons per year (MTPY) from PetroChina’s Jinlin Petrochemical, 2 million MTPY from Sinopec’s Luoyang Petrochemical, 4.5 million MTPY from PetroChina Liaoyang Petrochemical, 10 million MTPY from Sinopec’s Tianjin Petrochemical and 12 million MTPY from PetroChina’s Qinzhou Refinery. China’s apparent consumption of oil products is estimated to annually grow by 4% over the next few years. Chinese consumption is about 200 million MTPY. (August 23, 2010)