TOKYO, March 7, (KUNA): Pollution concerns in the Pearl River Delta region in southern China continue to stall the approval of an evaluation on a planned Sino-Kuwait $5-billion oil refinery and chemical plant, the state-run China Daily reported Friday. “The project was being seriously considered, and that an initial overall environmental evaluation by provincial and central experts is still ongoing,” Chen Min, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Environmental Protection Bureau, was quoted as saying. He was referring to the complex, jointly owned by state-run Kuwait Petroleum Corp. (KPC) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec).

The plant, slated to be operational in Guangzhou’s Nansha District within three years, will be the largest joint venture in China. Kuwait Petroleum Inter-national (KPI), the international refining and market arm of KPC, has formed the joint venture with China’s biggest oil refiner Sinopec Corp. to construct the integrated complex, which has been highlighted as a key project in Guangdong’s 2008 development plan. “Because the first draft of the overall environmental assessment hasn’t been approved, it has yet to be submitted to the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA),” said Chen, according to the daily.

Construction
“Construction of the plant will only begin after all assessments are approved by SEPA,” said Chen, adding that the assessment will also be widely publicized in an effort to seek public opinions.
SEPA’s vice-minister, Pan Yue, has said he is very concerned about the Nansha project, given that it would be one of the largest petrochemical bases.
The refinery will be designed to process 100 percent Kuwaiti crude supplied by KPC, with a capacity of 13 million tons per year, or 260,000 barrels per day (bpd), while the ethylene cracker unit is slated to have an annual production capacity of 1 million tons.
The KPI-led consortium also includes Kuwait Petro-chemicals Company (PIC) and foreign partners such as Dow Chemical Co. of the US.
Last month, a group of 14 provincial legislators suggested postponing the plant’s construction, fearing that the project will further damage Guangzhou’s environment, as well as have a negative impact on the entire Pear River Delta.
Located at the southernmost part of Guangzhou, Nansha district is the geometric center of the Pearl River Delta economic circle. It is only one hour’s drive away from Shenzhen and Zhuhai, and one hour by ferry from populated Hong Kong.