Asia to gain $20b for new refineries
Asia to gain $20b for new refineries
SINGAPORE (AFP): Asia will gain substantial new oil refining
capacity with about US$20 billion in "firm" investment expected
up to 1998, adding substantial new capacity in the region, an
official said yesterday.
"Total firm additions are estimated at 2.7 million barrels per
day and the greatest increases will occur in South Korea, China,
India, Japan and Thailand," said Andrew Speirs, U.S.-based Chem
Systems's general manager for East Asia.
Speirs told an international conference on Asia's fuels and
lubricants here that about 80 percent of the increase will be in
major expansion of existing refineries, with only five new
refineries to be established.
He said the low level of firm Chinese refining expansions,
relative to projected demand growth, "reflects the uncertainties
that exist in China with regard to the regulatory and legal
structures that will define new investments."
"Despite many projects that are being studied, international
companies are taking a slow approach before committing to major
investments in China," Speirs told more than 250 officials from
the downstream sector of Asia's oil industry attending the
conference.
He said that while refiners in developed nations were
concentrating on reducing costs by improving quality and output
from existing facilities, Asian refiners were focusing on
increasing total volume of product output in response to the
region's rapid growth for petroleum products.
Refinery capacity in East Asia now exceeded that of both
Europe and America, Speirs said, adding that China, Japan, South
Korea, India and Indonesia would account for more than 70 percent
of the next decade's increase in product demand.
Singapore, Asia's traditional refining center, was not
increasing its refining capacity in line with the region but was
likely to be the "swing" supplier, increasingly focusing on
higher value petroleum products and petrochemicals, he said.
Conference participants from more than 15 countries discussed
the latest fuels and lubricants trends in the Asian region.