American oil giant adds oil in China
Business goes on, despite the trade war and the mutual hostility between China and the U.S. The island city of Zhoushan, about 90 miles (145 km) south of Shanghai, is in talks with Texas-headquartered energy giant ExxonMobil to build a $7 billion ethylene plant. Ethylene is a key component widely used in the manufacture of plastics.
- The new factory “would have annual production capacity of 1.5 million to 1.8 million tonnes…making it larger than the 1.2 million-tonnes-per-year plant Exxon plans in the city of Huizhou in the southern province of Guangdong.”
- China is undertaking “the biggest expansion in petrochemical production in its history, with at least 13 ethylene complexes already planned in the next five years.” Reuters says the effort will include “giving greater access to global majors to its massive chemicals market to produce plastics, coatings and adhesives for fast-growing consumer industries.” Here are some useful charts that put this initiative in perspective.
- Exxon already owns “25 percent of a refinery and petrochemical plant in Fujian Province in partnership with China’s top state refiner Sinopec.”
The Zhoushan city government “also said it is in talks with United States-based conglomerate Honeywell for a 10,000-tonnes-per-year catalyst project.”
