The refinery, located in Panjin City, serves as a cornerstone of Saudi Arabia’s long-term strategy to lock in Chinese market share by integrating its crude output directly into local processing infrastructure. The facility boasts a processing capacity of 300,000 barrels per day, supported by an adjacent petrochemical plant capable of producing 1.65 million metric tons of ethylene and 2 million metric tons of paraxylene annually.

Under the partnership agreement, Saudi Aramco holds a 30% stake, while Chinese firms NORINCO Group and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group control 51% and 19%, respectively. Aramco is committed to supplying up to 210,000 barrels per day of feedstock to the site. Although initial projections targeted a 2026 launch, regional instability and delivery disruptions have pushed the start date to the first quarter of 2027. To maintain export flows, Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on its East-West pipeline, routing crude to the Red Sea port of Yanbu to bypass potential maritime chokepoints.