Bandar Seri Begawan - A Company from China, Zhejiang Hengyi has secured regulatory approval from China to build a planned US$4.32B refinery project in Brunei that will house the country's first aromatics production, the company's parent firm Hengyi Petrochemical said yesterday.

The refinery complex, which will have an 8m tonne per year capacity, will be built at Pulau Muara Besar, the Shenzhen-listed company said.

The complex will be able to produce 1.5m tonnes per year of diesel; 400,000 tonnes per year of gasoline; lm tonnes per year of jet kerosene; and 1.5m tonne per year of naphtha, the company said in April 2012.

It is also expected to produce 1.5m tonnes per year of paraxylene (PX) and 500,000 tonnes per year of benzene, the company said.

Zhejiang Hengyi is building the Brunei refinery to ensure supply of feedstocks PX and benzene for the corn- : pany's production of purified terephthalic acid (PTA), polyester and caprolactam, Hengyi Petrochemical said.

The refinery will get part of its crude supply from Brunei Shell Petroleum (BSP).

Hengyi Petrochemical is one of the biggest PTA producers in China with a 5.65m tonne per year capacity as of October 2012, according to the company's website.

Zhejiang Hengyi and the Brunei Economic Development Board (BEDB) in April last year inked a land lease agreement for Hengyi's Integrated Refinery and Aromatics Cracker Project that will be located at Pulau Muara Besar.

It is expected to create some 800 direct jobs and many more indirect jobs through spin-off industries.

The land lease agreement between the BEDB and Hengyi reflects their commitment of the Integrated Refinery and Aromatics Cracker Project and substantiates the 260 hectares of land on Pulau Muara Besar that has been reserved for it.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin