中國(guó)“茶壺”煉油廠困境加深

China’s independent oil refiners face an uphill struggle as excess capacity in the sector and slower demand for fuel creates a tougher trading environment, a top executive has warned.

一名業(yè)內(nèi)高管警告稱(chēng)，中國(guó)的獨(dú)立煉油廠面臨著一場(chǎng)苦撐，因?yàn)樵撔袠I(yè)的產(chǎn)能過(guò)剩和燃料需求放緩帶來(lái)了更為嚴(yán)峻的經(jīng)營(yíng)環(huán)境。

Zhang Liucheng, vice-president of Shandong Dongming, said growing rivalries among so-called “teapot refiners”, as well as state-owned oil companies, had added to the sector’s financial struggles.

山東東明石化集團(tuán)(Shandong Dongming)副總裁張留成表示，所謂的“茶壺”煉油廠內(nèi)部以及它們與國(guó)有石油公司之間愈演愈烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)，加劇了該行業(yè)的財(cái)務(wù)困境。

“Competition in China’s oil refinery industry is gradually intensifying,” said Mr Zhang, vice-president of Shandong Dongming, one of the leading teapots, on Wednesday. “We must strengthen our company,” he told the annual Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference in Singapore.

“中國(guó)煉油行業(yè)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)正在逐漸激化，”身為中國(guó)領(lǐng)先“茶壺”煉油廠之一副總裁的張留成周三表示，“我們必須加強(qiáng)我們的公司，”他在新加坡舉行的年度亞太石油會(huì)議(Asia Pacific Petroleum Conference)上告訴與會(huì)者。

Several teapots, most of which are in the eastern industrial heartland of Shandong, recently formed an alliance to co-ordinate production, sales, crude oil imports and investments. New entrants from elsewhere in China are also intensifying competition in the sector.

多家“茶壺”(大部分位于華東工業(yè)腹地山東省)最近結(jié)成一個(gè)聯(lián)盟，以協(xié)調(diào)生產(chǎn)、銷(xiāo)售、原油進(jìn)口和投資。中國(guó)其他地區(qū)的新進(jìn)入者也在加劇該行業(yè)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。

“Unity will safeguard the interest of our industry,” said Mr Zhang, adding that the move aims to “enhance our bargaining power and reduce vicious competition”.

“團(tuán)結(jié)將會(huì)維護(hù)本行業(yè)的利益，”張留成表示。他補(bǔ)充說(shuō)，此舉旨在“提升我們的議價(jià)能力，減少惡性競(jìng)爭(zhēng)”。

Financial “inadequacies” as the independent refinery sector developed — from struggles to find capital to higher costs for crude procurement and logistics — has added to the forces stacked against the independents, he said.

他說(shuō)，隨著獨(dú)立煉油行業(yè)的發(fā)展，財(cái)務(wù)上的“不足之處”(從難以找到資本，到原油采購(gòu)和物流成本上漲)增加了獨(dú)立煉油企業(yè)面臨的不利因素。

Although these refineries are known as teapots they have become an important force in the industry, courted by international oil traders and big producer countries. Since they were granted crude import licences two years ago, they have exerted huge influence on the oil market and contribute around a quarter of China’s refining capacity.

雖然這些煉油廠被稱(chēng)為“茶壺”，但它們已成為業(yè)內(nèi)的一股重要力量，受到國(guó)際石油貿(mào)易商和產(chǎn)油大國(guó)的追逐。自?xún)赡昵矮@得原油進(jìn)口許可證以來(lái)，它們已經(jīng)對(duì)石油市場(chǎng)產(chǎn)生了巨大影響，并貢獻(xiàn)了中國(guó)四分之一左右的煉油產(chǎn)能。

Mr Zhang said demand growth for refined oil products was weakening, which put greater pressure on independent refineries. Petrol consumption growth in China has fallen from almost 12 per cent in 2014 to 3 per cent last year, Shandong Dongming data showed. Diesel has dropped from almost 1 per cent growth to a decline of 6 per cent.

張留成表示，成品油需求增長(zhǎng)趨弱，對(duì)獨(dú)立煉油廠造成更大壓力。山東東明的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，中國(guó)汽油消費(fèi)增速已從2014年的近12%，降至去年的3%。柴油已從近1%的增長(zhǎng)降至減少6%。

At the end of 2016, China’s total oil refinery capacity exceeded 730m tonnes a year, or around 15m barrels a day, and surpasses China’s oil needs of around 12m b/d. Additional refining capacity is under construction and is expected to surpass 18m b/d in the next few years.

2016年底，中國(guó)煉油總產(chǎn)能超過(guò)每年7.3億噸，即約1500萬(wàn)桶/日，超過(guò)中國(guó)約1200萬(wàn)桶/日的石油需求量。更多的煉油產(chǎn)能正在建設(shè)中，預(yù)計(jì)未來(lái)幾年煉油總產(chǎn)能將超過(guò)1800萬(wàn)桶/日。

Teapots were granted crude import licences to help China compensate for a slowdown in production from state-owned oilfields. By the end of 2016, 19 independent refineries had been granted import quotas totalling almost 1.5m b/d.

“茶壺”當(dāng)初被授予原油進(jìn)口許可證，是為了幫助中國(guó)彌補(bǔ)國(guó)有油田生產(chǎn)放緩。截至2016年底，已有19家獨(dú)立煉油廠獲得進(jìn)口配額，總計(jì)近150萬(wàn)桶/日。

China, which is a big driver for global energy demand growth, has increased its imports of crude oil in recent years and is on pace to overtake the US in 2017. It took in an average 8.6m b/d between January and July.

中國(guó)是全球能源需求增長(zhǎng)的主要驅(qū)動(dòng)因素之一，近年原油進(jìn)口量有所增加，預(yù)計(jì)2017年將超過(guò)美國(guó)。中國(guó)在1月至7月期間原油進(jìn)口平均達(dá)到860萬(wàn)桶/日。

As imports swelled so did production of refined products. Independent refiners often took on huge debts to compete with big state-owned oil groups such as PetroChina and Sinopec when selling fuel into the domestic market.

隨著進(jìn)口大量增加，精煉產(chǎn)品的產(chǎn)量也隨之增加。獨(dú)立煉油廠在向國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)銷(xiāo)售燃料時(shí)，經(jīng)常背上巨額債務(wù)，以求與中石油(PetroChina)和中石化(Sinopec)等大型國(guó)有石油集團(tuán)競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。

The state has since tried to slow the energy sector liberalisation, shrinking the number of crude import quotas issued and cutting the amount of refined fuels these companies could export, trapping this output in China. This has also hurt teapots’ finances.

中國(guó)政府此后已試圖放慢能源行業(yè)放開(kāi)的步伐，縮減了原油進(jìn)口配額，削減了這些企業(yè)的成品油出口配額，使這些產(chǎn)量困于國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)。這也傷害了“茶壺”的財(cái)務(wù)狀況。

It was imperative the Shandong refineries “cluster together” to become more robust, Mr Zhang said. “We want to be the best and strongest.”

張留成說(shuō)，山東的各家煉油廠“抱團(tuán)”勢(shì)在必行，只有這樣才能變得更加強(qiáng)壯。“我們想成為最好和最強(qiáng)的。”