Two new refinery projects have been suspended as majors fall short of pollutant reduction targets.
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and China Petrochemical Corp (Sinopec) have both had large-scale refining and chemical projects suspended after failing to comply with the government’s 2012 targets for pollutant reduction.
According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the two state-owned giants cannot seek environmental reviews of new or expansion projects unless they are used for upgrading oil quality or reducing emissions.
Both companies failed to meet nitrogen oxide emissions standards and CNPC also failed in chemical oxygen demand, according to the Ministry.
The suspension reflects a tougher stance on national energy companies being taken by the government as it hopes to tackle rising pollution nationwide. Six other state-owned companies, including Shenhua Group Corp and China Huaneng Group Corp, all met the required emission targets.
Sinopec has pledged a further 22.9bn yuan ($3.7bn) over the next three years on improving 803 projects, while CNPC is pushing to reduce pollution and meet the targets set in the five-year plan ending in 2012.