Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO), a joint venture involving Saudi Aramco and China’s NORINCO among others, has reportedly pushed back the startup of its refining and petrochemical complex under construction in Panjin, Liaoning Province, from the originally planned first half of this year to September or October. The delay reportedly comes as growing crude supply concerns tied to recent instability around the Strait of Hormuz have pushed back the startup of several refining projects in China.
HAPCO is a joint venture owned by Aramco (30%), NORINCO Group (51%), and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group (19%), and is reportedly building a large complex comprising a 300,000-barrel-per-day refining facility along with a 1.65-million-ton-per-year ethylene cracker and a 2-million-ton-per-year paraxylene (PX) unit. Aramco has reportedly committed to supplying up to 210,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the project. The original report did not disclose specific licensor names for the refining and petrochemical processes, so detailed technical information could not be confirmed.
Total investment is reportedly approximately $11.5-12 billion, with recent reports putting progress at around 60%. The startup, originally planned for Q2 of this year, has reportedly been pushed back to September or early October. This delay is reportedly linked to the postponement of two Chinese refining projects totaling 500,000 barrels of capacity due to Strait of Hormuz-related risks.