China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) has turned the first sod on a sweeping upgrade of its Tahe integrated refining and petrochemical complex in the resource-rich Xinjiang region, a move aimed at boosting both refining and higher value petrochemical output.
The upgrade will increase the plant’s crude oil refining capacity from 5 million tons per year to 8.5 million tons per year. A total of 16 new refining and chemical processing units are being brought in, among them an ethylene cracker with capacity of 800,000 tons/year, a similarly sized aromatics complex, a 2.4 million tons/year hydrocracking unit, and a 1.5 million tons/year continuous catalytic reforming unit. The project is expected to be completed by 2029.
Financially, the project is projected to deliver an additional output value of about 20.2 billion yuan (approximately US$2.8 billion) annually, assuming a crude price of about US$60 per barrel. In Sinopec’s first-half 2025 spending, approximately 27.6 billion yuan (nearly US$3.9 billion), or about 63% of its capital expenditure, has been directed towards exploration and development projects, including this expansion at Tahe.
The expansion is part of China’s larger strategy to move up the value chain in petrochemicals, reducing reliance on imports and increasing domestic chemical feedstock supply, especially for petrochemical derivatives in sectors such as packaging, textiles and automotive.
