BEIJING, Dec 18 (Reuters) - PetroChina's $6billion refinery and petrochemical complex in southwest Chinawill be ready for trial production in weeks, two companyofficials said, more than a year later than originally touteddue to repeated delays.
The start-up of the 200,000 barrels-per-day Sichuan facilityis being closely watched as it is the first major refinery inChina's landlocked southwest and will process crude from theremote Xinjiang region, as well as from Russia and Kazakhstan.
It will also be one of the two major new refineries theworld's second's largest oil consumer is expected to bring online in 2014. The other is the 240,000-bpd Quanzhou refinery,with investment by state-run Sinochem Corp.
Quanzhou, in the southeastern province of Fujian, isexpected to start in the first quarter of 2014, delayed from anoriginal timeline of mid-2013.
"This time the (PetroChina) Pengzhou plant in Sichuan willbe really ready for test runs," said one industry official withdirect knowledge of the project.
A delay in adding some environmental facilities including adrainage system, which the local government has agreed to build,was the main reason for the latest postponement, said theofficial.
The refinery was last expected to start trial production inlate October, according to company officials. That was afterseveral delays including one as local residents expressedconcerns over safety following an earthquake in Sichuan inApril.
The delays have led to brimming inventories at the plant'scrude storage units, the first official added.
Tighter government scrutiny and growing public awareness ofenvironmental and safety standards have over the past few yearscontributed to a slowing in China's refinery expansions,following more rapid development since the mid-1990s.
Plans for a $13 billion refinery and petrochemical complexin east China - a joint investment by PetroChina, Royal DutchShell and Qatar Petroleum, have stalled over finding asuitable site.
The Sichuan plant has an affiliated petrochemical complexincluding an 800,000 tonne-per-year ethylene unit, whichproduces feedstock for making plastics and textiles. Officialsdid not specify if the petrochemical plant would start operatingat the same time.