(Hong Kong, 14 September 2006) - China BlueChemical Limited (“China BlueChem” or the “Company”) today announced that the methanol plant with an annual capacity of 600,000 tonnes invested by CNOOC Kingboard Chemical Limited (“CNOOC Jiantao”) commenced trial production by successfully producing methanol products of the requisite standard. CNOOC Jiantao is a joint venture between China BlueChem and a subsidiary of Kingboard Chemical Holdings Limited (“Kingboard”, HKSE code: 0148.HK), with interests of 60% and 40% respectively.
With a designed annual production capacity of 600,000 tonnes, the CNOOC Jiantao methanol plant is one of the largest single facilities of its kind inChina. Located in the Dongfang City of Hainan province, the total investment of the plant is approximately RMB1.5 billion. The methanol plant utilizes the equipment and technology of the German Lurgi Group, uses natural gas as raw material. It is equipped with advanced technology, the energy consumption is low and the operation is environmental-friendly and clean. CNOOC Jiantao has signed a 20-year natural gas supply contract with CNOOC Limited (HKSE code: 0883.HK) to ensure a steady and long-term natural gas supply for the facility.
Methanol is an important chemical and raw material of chemical products and a clean fuel for the future. It is widely used in the production of plastics, synthetic fiber and rubber, dye, paint, spices, medicines and pesticides. It is also an important organic solvent and is applied largely to synthesized fuel and petrol additives. Methanol also boasts tremendous potential and prospects in a wide array of applications, such as replacing petrol or mixing in with petrol as a cleaner fuel for automobiles, in commercial use batteries, extracting from it micro-organic proteins for producing feeds for farm animals and as food additives, etc.- more -.
Mr. Yang Yexin, CEO and President of China BlueChem, commented, “The CNOOC Jiantao methanol plant is a concrete step made by the Company in diversifying its products. Methanol has wide applications and as downstream methanol products continue to develop, we expect demand for them to continue to grow both inChinaandAsia. Similar to other production facilities of China BlueChem inHainan, this facility enjoys competitive cost advantage as benefiting from comparably stable gas supply and gas cost. . Our competitiveness is further enhanced by our superb location in the vicinity of both water and land transportation provisions, thus giving our products direct access to southeast coastalChinaandSoutheast Asiamarkets. We believe methanol production will become a new growth momentum for China BlueChem.”
About China BlueChemical Ltd.
China BlueChem is one of the largest and most efficient nitrogenous fertilizer producers inChinain terms of production volume and energy consumption. It is the only company in the CNOOC family that engages in the production of downstream mineral fertilizers and synthetic chemical products using natural gas as principal raw material. The Company has secured long-term natural gas supply from CNOOC Ltd. Its production facilities are located in Hainan andInner Mongolia,China, with a total designed annual production capacity of 1,840,000 tonnes of urea and 200,000 tonnes of methanol. China BlueChem has constructed a new methanol plant. With the completion of construction work in September 2006, the new methanol plant is expected to commence mass production in January 2007, thus ultimately raising China BlueChem’s total designed annual methanol production capacity to 800,000 tonnes.
For press enquiries：
China BlueChemical Ltd.
Ms. Lydia Zhong Tel: (852) 22132502 zhongyx@cnooc.com.cn
Strategic Financial Relations (China) Limited
Ms. Anita Cheung Tel: (852) 2864 4827 anita@strategic.com.hk
Ms. Karen Hung Tel: (852) 2864 4854 karen.hung@strategic.com.hk
Mr. Winston Yau Tel: (852) 2864 4838 winston.yau@strategic.com.hk
Ms. Arlene Wong Tel: (852) 2864 4899 arlene.wong@strategic.com.hk
