The stone laying ceremony

CHINA National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) laid the cornerstone for its wholly invested oil refining project in Huizhou City on Thursday (Dec 15).

Vice Premier Zeng Peiyan, Guangdong Provincial Communist Party Secretary Zhang Dejiang, Deputy secretary general of state council Wang Yang and Guangdong Governor Huang Huahua  attended the stone laying ceremony held on the day.

Fu Chengyu, President of CNOOC, called the move "significant" for CNOOC to achieve its goal of establishing an integrated energy company, which boasts not only an upper stream business including exploration and production, but also middle and downstream businesses such as oil refining and petrochemicals.

With an investment of 19.3 billion yuan (US$2.38 billion), the project is the second largest project of CNOOC in Huizhou.

Boasting an annual refining capacity of 12 million tons, mainly sour crude from CNOOC's offshore fields, the project is capable of producing 7.3 million tons of gasoline, diesel, and kerosene a year in line with international auto emission standards. Annual sales are expected to reach over 34 billion yuan.

Editor: Wing