Chinese refiners delay projects with Middle East oil supply disrupted
- HAPCO start-up pushed from mid-year to September or October
- PetroChina Dalian unit resumption postponed indefinitely
- China's refining margins turn negative on high crude costs and fuel price caps
- India's capacity expansion on track
Chinese refiners have delayed two projects slated to come online this year following disruptions to Middle Eastern oil supplies from the Strait of Hormuz due to the Iran war, people familiar with the matter said.
The delays, which affect a combined capacity of 500,000 bpd, could cap fresh Chinese oil demand as well as global crude prices as refiners in the world's top crude importer already face headwinds from flagging fuel consumption.
Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Co (HAPCO), a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Chinese state-owned defense conglomerate Norinco Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group, has pushed back the startup of its 300,000-bpd refinery in the northeastern city of Panjin to September or early October from May or June, five people familiar with the matter said.
Consultancy Energy Aspects has said it expects the refinery to start in the latter part of the third quarter because of feedstock supply uncertainty linked to the Hormuz disruption.
HAPCO did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Aramco declined to comment on questions about HAPCO's start-up timeline.
Aramco said in 2023 it would supply up to 210,000 bpd of crude to HAPCO. The project includes a 1.65-metric MMtpy ethylene cracker and a 2-MMtpy paraxylene unit.
Separately, the planned restart of a 200,000-bpd crude unit at PetroChina's Dalian refinery has been postponed indefinitely, according to three sources familiar with the project.
Media reported in January that the state oil firm planned to restart the plant around mid-year to capitalize on strong margins from processing discounted Russian crude. However, those discounts have largely disappeared since the conflict disrupted global supplies and increased competition for Russian barrels.
PetroChina, which has not publicly confirmed plans for the restart of the Dalian unit, did not respond to a request for comment.
The delays come as the Iran conflict has crunched refiners' margins, with the Middle East oil supply disruption driving up crude prices, while they face state fuel price caps. At the same time fuel demand has weakened due to electric vehicle growth.
As a result, throughput at China's refineries fell to about 13.3 MMbpd in April, the lowest since August 2022, government data showed. That equates to about 69% of capacity, based on state refiners' estimates of total capacity at around 960 metric MMtpy, or about 19.2 MMbpd.
INDIA AND CHINA LEAD CAPACITY ADDITIONS. Asia accounts for the bulk of new refinery capacity set to come online this year, according to analysts.
In India, state-owned Hindustan Petroleum Corp (HPCL) and Indian Oil Corp. are expected to add about 526,000 bpd refining capacity this year.
Start-up of HPCL's 180,000-bpd Barmer project was delayed a few months due to a fire, and the company has said it expects to commence operations there at 60% capacity starting this month.
Indian Oil Corp said in May that expansions at its Barauni, Gujarat and Panipat refineries will be completed in August, November and December, respectively.
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