China’s consistent dominance of the global energy market has become a theme we are all too familiar with. In recent years, the efficiency of the Chinese energy companies has led the nation to dominate the global energy market across a variety of industries, including oil, gas, and the more recent and popular renewable energy sector. Now, a new joint venture has been created that will maintain this dominance of the market, as Sinopec, Saudi Arabia’s Aramco, and the Fujian Petrochemical Company have come together to uplift the Chinese energy market even more.
China’s continuous advancement of its energy sector has led the nation to new heights
China has one of the largest populations anywhere on Earth, and all those people require energy for their daily lives. In response to the consistent increases in energy demand, the Chinese government has been approving new projects at a rapid pace in recent years. Now, the Chinese energy giant Sinopec, as well as the Chinese petrochemical company Fujian, have joined forces on a new joint venture that will boost the nation’s energy capacity.
The Fujian Sinopec Aramco Refining and Petrochemical Co., Ltd will develop a new large-scale integrated refining and petrochemical complex in Fujian province, paving the way for a new era of Chinese petrochemical and refining output as the nation aims to not only provide energy for its citizens but to ensure the country phases out imports of essential energy resources over the coming years.
The establishment of the new joint venture underscores the three companies’ commitments to boosting output in a nation that has become the pillar of strength for an energy industry being overwhelmed by calls to integrate more renewable energy projects. The new venture will bring together two of China’s largest and most important energy companies and pair them with the astounding expertise of Saudi Arabia’s Aramco.
“This project represents further progress in Aramco’s strategic downstream expansion, which aims to capture additional value through both portfolio diversification and business integration. We see significant petrochemical demand growth potential in China, and we are delighted to be an active participant in this key market.” – Mohammed Y. Al Qahtani, Aramco Downstream President
In the ever-changing energy industry, joint ventures provide much-needed cooperation and stability
The global energy market has become a tough place to do business. With fluctuating market prices on gas and oil, the market has seen better days. However, that has not slowed down the Chinese, as they aim to increase energy output from the new complex that will be located in Fujian province. The new joint venture will manage and oversee operations at the new facility for the next few coming years and beyond.
Notably, the venture will construct a new refinery that consists of 16 tons a 16-ton-per-year crude oil refining unit that will work alongside a 1.5 million tons-per-year ethylene unit; a paraxylene and downstream derivatives capacity of 2 million tons-per-year; and a 300,000 tons capacity crude oil terminal. The new facility comes as China recently approved a similar project in Dalian.
The new venture builds on the already impressive relationship between the companies involved
The new joint venture is certainly not the first between the companies, and most likely won’t be the last either. Sinopec, which also recently revealed plans to modernize its refining and chemical complex in Xinjiang, has partnered with Aramco in the past, such as the successful launch of the Fujian Refining & Petrochemical Company (FREP) project in 2007, and Sinopec SABIC Tianjing Petrochemical Company (SSTPC) in 2009. China’s astonishing dominance of the global energy sector shows no signs of easing up as the nation has revealed plans that span the entire energy chain.
