"Under the current system in China, it's impossible to make profits from refining," Wei said. Luoyang also has "geographical disadvantages" because it's too far from oil supplies, he said, referring to Xinjiang fields to its west and oil ports on the eastern seaboard.
The Luoyang plant has crude-distillation capacity of 8 million tons a year and a splitter capable of processing 1.5 million tons of condensate annually, he said. The plant's refining costs are 200 yuan a ton more than the China Petroleum's average, Wei said, without being more specific.
(Reuters) - China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and ENN Energy Holdings Ltd said they had not made any decision on whether to raise their USD2.2 billion takeover offer for China Gas Holdings Ltd after local media said the firms had ruled out the possibility of sweetening the bid.
In a joint filing with the Hong Kong Stock exchange, Sinopec and ENN said they believed their current offer for the city gas distributor was in the best interests of China Gas and its shareholders. But they said no decision had yet been made on the possibility of improving the take-over bid.
ENN chairman Wang Yusuo said there were no plans to raise the offer price of HK USD3.50 a share. He also said that talks between the consortium and China Gas' representatives had reached an impasse: "We are stuck in the discussions."
(bloomberg) -- Several Japanese and South Korean ethylene producers will idle capacity for maintenance leading into Q2-2012. A list of planned maintenance shutdowns at naphtha crackers in Japan and Korea.
Tosoh plans to shut its 493,000 tpa naphtha cracker in Yokkaichi for scheduled maintenance on March 15, scheduled to last until April 15. Showa Denko KK has started reducing output by 200,000 tpa at its ethylene plant in Oita for scheduled maintenance. The 691,000 tpa unit was scheduled to return to full capacity on March 29. Asahi Kasei Corp. has shut its 504,000 tpa cracker in Mizushima for scheduled maintenance on March 5, and is scheduled to restart on April 16.
Mitsubishi Chemical Corp. plans to shut Kashima 1 343,000 tpa from May 10 to July 4. Maruzen Petrochemical Co. plans to shut 525,000 tpa Chiba cracker from mid-May to mid-June. In South Korea, Yeochun NCC Co. (YNCC) plans to shut its 578,000 tpa Yeocheon No. 2 plant for maintenance from March 20 to April 19, according to a company official who asked not to be named because the information was confidential.
Honam Petrochemical Corp. has shut its 750,000 tpa Yeocheon plant on March 1 for maintenance and to expand its capacity to 1 mln tpa, scheduled to last until April 10. Formosa Petrochemical Corp. plans to shut 700,000 tpa Cracker 1 at Mailiao for 40-45 days in August.