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International Herald Tribune: China limits synfuel

From Bloomberg News

EXTRACT: “Royal Dutch Shell, the second- largest European oil company, and Shenhua Ningxia, a unit of Shenhua Group, China’s biggest coal producer, will study the technical and commercial viability of building a 70,000 barrel-a-day plant in the northern Chinese province of Ningxia, the companies said this week.”

THE ARTICLE
 
HONG KONG China, the world’s biggest energy consumer after the United States, on Friday announced restrictions on projects that turn coal into liquid fuels and chemicals to avoid overcapacity and the waste of resources.
 
China will not approve coal-to-fuel, or synfuel, projects that have an annual production capacity of less than three million metric tons, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top Chinese economic planning agency, said in a statement on its Web site.
 
Record oil costs are spurring China to build plants that can turn some of its coal reserves, the world’s third-largest, into auto fuels and raw materials for making plastics. Sasol of South Africa, the biggest producer of motor fuel from coal, said last month that China had the potential for at least 12 coal-to- fuel plants.
 
“The development of coal-to-chemicals is important in reducing the dependence on oil,” the commission said in the statement. But “the projects have to match market demand and the different economical and environmental conditions.”
 
Coal-to-methanol and coal-to-dimethyl-ether projects with annual capacity of less than one million tons as well as coal-to-olefin projects with capacity of less than 600,000 tons will not be approved, the statement said.
 
Methanol and olefin are used as raw materials to produce plastics, and dimethyl-ether is used in the manufacture of rubber and pharmaceuticals.
 
China produced 5.4 million tons of methanol in 2005, and nine million tons of additional capacity is being built, according to the statement.
 
Royal Dutch Shell, the second- largest European oil company, and Shenhua Ningxia, a unit of Shenhua Group, China’s biggest coal producer, will study the technical and commercial viability of building a 70,000 barrel-a-day plant in the northern Chinese province of Ningxia, the companies said this week.
 
Shenhua Group owns a majority stake in Shenhua Ningxia, and Ningxia Coal Industry Group owns the rest. Shenhua Group is the parent of Hong Kong-listed China Shenhua Energy.
 
Sasol and Shenhua Ningxia last month signed an initial agreement for an 80,000 barrel-a-day coal-to-fuels plant in Ningxia.
 
 HONG KONG China, the world’s biggest energy consumer after the United States, on Friday announced restrictions on projects that turn coal into liquid fuels and chemicals to avoid overcapacity and the waste of resources.
 
China will not approve coal-to-fuel, or synfuel, projects that have an annual production capacity of less than three million metric tons, the National Development and Reform Commission, the top Chinese economic planning agency, said in a statement on its Web site.
 
Record oil costs are spurring China to build plants that can turn some of its coal reserves, the world’s third-largest, into auto fuels and raw materials for making plastics. Sasol of South Africa, the biggest producer of motor fuel from coal, said last month that China had the potential for at least 12 coal-to- fuel plants.
 
“The development of coal-to-chemicals is important in reducing the dependence on oil,” the commission said in the statement. But “the projects have to match market demand and the different economical and environmental conditions.”
 
Coal-to-methanol and coal-to-dimethyl-ether projects with annual capacity of less than one million tons as well as coal-to-olefin projects with capacity of less than 600,000 tons will not be approved, the statement said.
 
Methanol and olefin are used as raw materials to produce plastics, and dimethyl-ether is used in the manufacture of rubber and pharmaceuticals.
 
China produced 5.4 million tons of methanol in 2005, and nine million tons of additional capacity is being built, according to the statement.
 
Royal Dutch Shell, the second- largest European oil company, and Shenhua Ningxia, a unit of Shenhua Group, China’s biggest coal producer, will study the technical and commercial viability of building a 70,000 barrel-a-day plant in the northern Chinese province of Ningxia, the companies said this week.
 
Shenhua Group owns a majority stake in Shenhua Ningxia, and Ningxia Coal Industry Group owns the rest. Shenhua Group is the parent of Hong Kong-listed China Shenhua Energy.
 
Sasol and Shenhua Ningxia last month signed an initial agreement for an 80,000 barrel-a-day coal-to-fuels plant in Ningxia. 
 
International Herald Tribune

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