Sinopec Hainan Petrochemical Corp. recently completed the construction of its grassroots refinery in Hainan, with a crude distillation capacity of 160,000 barrels per day. Representatives from Saudi Aramco subsidiary Saudi Petroleum Ltd., Beijing, were the first crude-oil suppliers to visit the refinery to build relationships with its management and to explore the plant's sour-crude refining capability. While the refinery is in its initial testing stage, a shipment of Arab Light is scheduled to arrive in early August. Refinery officials expressed their appreciation of the visit and commended Saudi Aramco for being the "premier supplier of choice." The refinery was built to meet the domestic demand for Hainan, with the excess output to be shipped to the Pearl River Delta. Sinopec Hainan Petrochemical Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sinopec. Saudi Aramco and Sinopec cooperate closely on upstream and downstream activities, and Saudi Aramco has been a major crude supplier to Sinopec.
