Sinopec closes two refineries in Guangdong

Sinopec Group has announced closure of two refineries, one of which also has a petrochemical plant, in China’s southern province of Guangdong for checking environmental problems.

The two plants–Sinopec Dongxing refinery and Sinopec Guangzhou Petrochemical Corp–together have 370,000 barrels per day crude oil processing capacity.

Guangzhou plant is owned by Sinopec Corp, while Dongxing plant is under the parent Sinopec Group, the largest refiner in Asia.

Sinopec Group normally shuts its refineries for maintenance or when there is some fire or other accident. However, it is very rare for the company to close its plant operations for environmental checks.

The latest closure of plants comes after reports about industrial waste from the plants leaking out through the rain water drainage system.

The shutdown of the plants, however, would be a gradual process.