Sinopec unit signs US$3.5 billion joint venture deal

Fujian Petrochemical, a unit of China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), signed an agreement with ExxonMobil and Saudi Aramco for a US$3.5 billion project involving expansion of its Quanzhou refinery in Fujian to process imported Saudi crude, and construction of a petrochemical complex there. The subsidiary is taking a 50% stake, its foreign partners 25% each. The new facilities will add new ethylene-making capacity and raise crude oil refining capacity from 4 million to 12 million tonnes annually. Cost estimates more than doubled since project talks began four years ago. Completion is targeted for the first half of 2008.