Sinopec-Kuwaiti combine lets contract for integrated Zhanjiang complex

China Petrochemical Corp. (Sinopec) and joint-venture partner Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) have let a contract to Kaji Technology Corp. of Japan to supply equipment for the long-planned Sino-Kuwait integrated refining and petrochemical complex now under construction on Donghai Island of Zhanjiang City in China’s Guangdong Province (OGJ Online, Aug. 11, 2009).

Kaji will deliver a reciprocating compressor to accommodate high-pressure nitrogen gas service for an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) production plant at the planned complex, the manufacturing company said.

The EVA plant, which will be equipped with Lupotech process technology from LyondellBasell Industries NV, joins a series of other planned petrochemical units at the integrated project, for which Sinopec Engineering Incorp. is providing overall engineering, procurement, and construction services, according to releases from Kaji and LyondellBasell.

Values of the contracts, however, were not revealed.

Project background

Originally planned as a $9-billion complex that would be able to process 15 million tonnes/year of crude as well as 1 million tpy of ethylene, 460,000 tpy of polyethylene, and 750,000 tpy of polypropylene beginning in 2016, the delayed project’s $5.1-billion first phase—which began construction on Dec. 20, 2016—will include a 10 million-tpy refinery and 800,000-tpy ethylene plant scheduled for startup in 2020, the government of Zhanjiang said in a March news release.

While previous shareholders including Total SA, Dow Chemical Co., and Royal Dutch Shell PLC now seemingly no longer attached to the project, the Sino-Kuwait integrated complex—which is designed to process Kuwaiti crude—will be jointly held and operated on a 50-50 basis by Sinopec and KPC, according to the Zhanjiang government (OGJ Online, Mar. 13, 2012; May 14, 2009).

Details regarding a timeline for the project’s second phase have yet to be revealed.

Contact Robert Brelsford at [email protected].