CNPC Pushes ahead with Controversial Sichuan Refinery Project

The new CNPC refinery in Pengzhou, Sichuan Province

 (Pengzhou, Sichuan) – A controversial petrochemical project in the southwestern province of Sichuan quietly went into operation in March, but questions about the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) facility continue to linger.

The project is in Penzhou, a city of 763,000 people some 25 kilometers northwest of the provincial capital of Chengdu. It was built by CNPC and the Sichuan government, with total investment of 38 billion yuan and an expected capacity of 800,000 tons of ethylene and 10 million tons of refined oil every year.