China’s Hengyi Plans $13.65 Billion Expansion at Brunei Petchem Complex

China’s Hengyi Petrochemical Co Ltd plans to spend $13.65 billion to build the second phase of a refinery and petrochemical complex, it reported in a stock filing.

Hengyi, one of the few private Chinese firms operating a refinery outside China, plans to add a 14 million tonne per year (280,000 barrel per day) crude oil refinery and a two MM tpy paraxylene unit at its complex in Palau Muara Besar, the company said.

It will also build a 1.65 million tonne per year ethylene plant and a 2.5 million tonne per year purified terephthalic acid (PTA) facility. Paraxylene and PTA are key materials for making polyester fiber used in textiles and packaging.

Construction will take three years and the investment is expected to bring an additional annual net profit of about $1.72 billion, the firm said, without giving a date for starting the work.

Hengyi in 2019 started up a 160,000 barrel per day refinery and petrochemical facilities at the same site at Palau Muara Besar.