SINGAPORE - PetroChina has started a 33.9 billion yuan ($5.33 billion) programme to expand the petrochemical capacity at a subsidiary plant in northeast China and cut refined fuel production, according to a company post and state media report.

The state oil and gas major's move is in line with a trend within the Chinese industry to reduce fossil fuel output as demand is set to peak, while raising production of higher-value petrochemicals that are imported by the Asian country.

Under the revamp, PetroChina's Jilin Petrochemical Corp plans to add 21 more facilities - including a 1.2-million-tonnes-per-year (tpy) ethylene unit - and mothball seven units, parent company CNPC said on Wednesday, without providing further details.

The new facilities will also include a 600,000-tpy unit to manufacture acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), an impact-resistant plastic, local state newspaper Jilin Daily reported, without citing details on project completion.

After the revamp, the Jilin province-based subsidiary will produce 2.63 million tonnes less of refined fuel a year but 2.8 million tonnes more of petrochemicals.

 

($1 = 6.3608 yuan)

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips) ((aizhu.chen@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: aizhu.chen.reuters.com@reuters.net))