At present, the first phase of the Longkou Yulong Island Refining and Chemical Integration Project in Yantai, Shandong has entered the sprint stage of full process production. The core equipment has successively completed intermediate handover, single machine commissioning, and linkage commissioning work. It is expected to achieve full process integration and production in the second quarter of 2026, which also means that the largest private refining and chemical integration project in China is about to officially land and take effect.

Project Core Overview

The Yulong Island Refining and Chemical Integration Project is a major industrial project specified in the national "Petrochemical Industry Planning and Layout Plan", and it is also the core project for the conversion of old and new kinetic energy in Shandong Province. The total investment of the first phase of the project is 127.4 billion yuan, and it is located on Yulong Island in Longkou, Yantai, Shandong. Its core construction includes 22 sets of high-end chemical new material units such as 20 million tons/year refining unit, 3 million tons/year ethylene complex, aromatic hydrocarbon complex, high-density polyethylene, polypropylene, ABS, as well as supporting facilities such as public works, warehousing and logistics, environmental protection and energy conservation, and port storage and transportation. After the completion and operation of the project, it is expected that the annual operating revenue will exceed 150 billion yuan, the total profit and tax will exceed 30 billion yuan, and the primary processing capacity of crude oil will enter the first tier of the domestic private refining industry, becoming the largest and most technologically advanced integrated refining industry base in the Bohai Rim region.

Core highlights of the project

The core equipment of the project adopts technologies independently developed by China, among which the localization rate of core equipment such as ethylene cracking furnaces, hydrogenation reactors, and large compressors exceeds 95%, making it a demonstration project for the localization of core technologies in the domestic refining industry. It is worth mentioning that the first domestically owned 3 million tons/year ethylene plant with independent intellectual property rights has achieved global leading levels in multiple technical indicators, completely breaking the long-term technological monopoly of overseas enterprises in the field of large-scale ethylene plants.

This project completely breaks away from the development positioning of traditional refinery fuel types, focusing on reducing oil and increasing chemical production, and focusing on new chemical materials as the core development direction. The conversion rate of chemical products exceeds 70%, significantly higher than the industry average. The core products include high-end polyolefins, metallocene polyethylene ABS、 High end chemical new materials such as butadiene and epichlorohydrin can be widely used in various fields such as new energy, automotive lightweighting, high-end equipment, electronic chemicals, etc. They can effectively fill the supply and demand gap of domestic high-end chemical products and achieve import substitution of core products. Build a globally leading green and low-carbon demonstration benchmark. The project fully implements the requirements of the national dual carbon strategy, and is equipped with globally leading CCUS devices, waste alkali treatment systems, and VOCs full process treatment facilities. It adopts a series of energy-saving and carbon reduction technologies such as electrified heating furnaces, deep waste heat recovery, and renewable energy substitution. The carbon emissions per unit product have been reduced by more than 40% compared to the industry average, reaching the leading standard for green and low-carbon development in the global refining industry.

Reshaping the Industry Landscape

After the Yulong Island Refining and Chemical Integration Project is put into operation, it will work together with Zhejiang Petrochemical, Hengli Petrochemical, and Shenghong Refining and Chemical to form the four core bases of the domestic private refining industry, completely changing the traditional petrochemical industry pattern of "North Oil South Chemical" in China, effectively driving the upgrading of the petrochemical industry in the Bohai Rim region towards high-end and refined direction, and further consolidating China's scale advantage and technological advantage in the global refining and chemical field. Keywords: Shandong Yulong Island, integrated refining and chemical industry, new materials

This project is positioned with high-end, intelligent, and green development as its core, providing a replicable and promotable benchmark for the transformation and upgrading of traditional refineries. It will effectively promote the elimination of outdated production capacity in the industry, facilitate the transformation of the domestic refining industry from scale expansion to quality improvement, and deeply align with the strategic direction of high-quality development of the national petrochemical industry. At the same time, the project directly provides support for national strategic emerging industries such as new energy and high-end manufacturing through the large-scale production of key materials such as high-end polyolefins and special rubber, and connects the complete industrial chain of "crude oil refining high-end chemical new materials downstream terminal applications", significantly enhancing the independent controllability and core competitiveness of China's chemical new materials industry chain.Editor/Gong Ziwei