State-owned oil giants guilty of heavy pollution in China

Want China Times, Staff Reporter 2014-02-18

A CNPC (PetroChina) gas station in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, Nov. 1,
2013. (Photo/CNS)

Two of China's state-owned oil companies — China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec) — have made it on to the government's list of leading polluters, reflecting the energy sector's poor environmental protection efforts, reports the Beijing-based China Times (not our sister paper).

CNPC and Sinopec failed to achieve their carbon emission reduction targets for the third consecutive time during 2013, with vice environmental protection minister Zhai Qing pointing the finger at several businesses on Feb. 12, including the two oil companies, for fudging numbers and illegally dumping waste.

CNPC's Jinlin oil field branch was recently fined 500,000 yuan (US$82,500) for dumping waste, while the Hohhot petrochemical branch was named as one of the 72 companies suspected of environmental protection law violations.

This is in sharp contrast with the two oil companies' record for environmental protection efforts in their overseas projects, said the newspaper.

CNPC, for instance, achieved zero output of wastewater at its Andes oilfield project in Ecuador and invested over US$200 million in biological waste treatment systems for its projects in Sudan.

"To establish a position abroad, the fundamental rule is to ensure safe production and green development. CNPC earned respect and gained business opportunities because of numerous model projects like the Andes one," said Bo Qiliang, vice president at CNPC's listed arm, PetroChina.

In China the two oil companies do not need to compete for business, since local governments vie for their investments, and this has resulted in a lack of supervision of pollution created by the companies, according to the newspaper.

The pursuit of economic growth and personal success by officials, along with local authorities' inability to exercise oversight, are also blamed for the oil companies' polluting activities, the newspaper said.