It looks as if the spanking new USD 6 bn refinery complex built by PetroChina (Beijing / China; www.petrochina.com.cn/ptr/) will have to wait a little while longer before finally making its debut. Test runs were expected to begin in mid-April before being called off following an earthquake in the region two weeks ago.

PetroChina's Sichuan Petrochemical facility, with its 200,000 barrel per day (bpd) refinery, was originally scheduled to start up in December 2012 but that was postponed until April, according to the engineering company responsible for building the complex.

Though no reason was given for the first delay almost six months ago, the latest one appears to be related to the quake: reports from the region state that local residents had safety concerns after the earthquake struck, which, in turn, led to the decision by China’s largest oil company to postpone once again.

The RMB 38 bn (USD 6.1 bn) investment includes an 800,000 t/y ethylene complex, which manufactures feedstocks and intermediates for petrochemicals.

This past March the company completed laying a crude oil pipeline linking the country's northwest to the refinery, which is about 25 kilometres from Chengdu, capital of the densely populated Sichuan province. Once in operation, the Sichuan plant will process crude oil from PetroChina's oilfields in the northwest as well as from neighbouring Kazakhstan.