Sinopec refinery sets pace in smart push

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, which is known as Sinopec, Asia's biggest refiner, is speeding up the development of its intelligent refinery in the coastal city of Zhanjiang, Guangdong province.

Operations at the Zhongke (Guangdong) Refinery and Petrochemical Project Co Ltd are mostly automated, so only about 1,500 employees work on site, far less than the 6,000 to 8,000 staff members needed at conventional plants of comparable size.

The complex began production in June. It provided the first batch of 33,800 metric tons of gasoline and diesel oil to markets in South China and East China in August.