PetroChina to restart part of shuttered Dalian refinery in November, sources say
SINGAPORE: PetroChina is preparing to restart a mothballed crude oil processing unit in northeast China next month to replenish domestic fuel stocks until a replacement refinery is constructed, according to multiple industry and trade sources.
PetroChina is set to resume operations at a portion of its shuttered Dalian refinery in November, according to industry sources. The decision comes as the company seeks to bolster domestic fuel supplies while a new refinery is under construction. In July 2025, PetroChina, a subsidiary of CNPC, closed the 410,000-barrel-per-day Dalian Petrochemical refinery due to Beijing's efforts to streamline refining capacity and prioritize higher-value petrochemical production.
The plan to restart a 200,000 bpd crude distillation unit at Dalian was delayed due to the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, which caused crude supply disruptions and price surges. Now, the company is expected to restart the 200,000 bpd crude distillation unit (CDU) in November, processing between 500,000 to 600,000 metric tons of crude feed, which equates to 122,000 to 146,000 barrels per day.
This represents roughly 61% to 73% of the unit's total processing capacity. Crude shipments for the restart are anticipated to arrive from South America and the Middle East in the coming weeks. Additionally, the delayed construction of a US$10 billion new refinery complex on a nearby island is also a contributing factor to the restart decision, with its planned startup slated for mid-2028, followed by a full-scale launch in March 2029.
Written by urgent.news from New Straits Times's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
