Dow and Shell could be involved in refining and chemical complex

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) and Kuwait Petroleum are talking about building a refinery and petrochemical complex in Nansha, in China's southern province of Guangdong, Sinopec has confirmed.

According to a report in China Daily, a newspaper owned by the Chinese government, other partners in the $5 billion project could include Dow Chemical and Royal Dutch Shell. Jia Yiqun, Sinopec's spokesman in Hong Kong, says the report is "basically correct," but he warns that talks are still at an early stage.

A Dow spokeswoman says, "We do not comment on speculation concerning any company, project, or activity."

Partnering with so many companies would go against Sinopec's recent habit of building plants on its own. Jia notes that Sinopec no longer needs investment capital from foreign partners and also can secure nonproprietary manufacturing processes for most projects.

But senior Kuwaiti government officials are interested in investing in China, Jia says, and Kuwait could supply oil to the project. In recent years, he notes, many international oil companies have become less inclined to invest in petrochemical activities.