As a core subsidiary of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Group), Qilu Petrochemical is rooted in Zibo, Shandong Province. Having gone into operation in 1966, it has evolved into a super-large integrated refining and petrochemical enterprise and serves as a cornerstone of the energy and chemical industry in East China. Over more than 50 years of development, the firm has built up a full industrial chain covering refining, petrochemicals and advanced new materials, with total assets exceeding RMB 80 billion and annual operating revenue surpassing RMB 120 billion. It holds an important industrial position in crude oil processing, synthetic resin and synthetic rubber sectors. Driven by technological innovation, Qilu is transforming from a basic energy supplier into a high-end specialty material service provider and has become a benchmark for high-quality development in China’s refining and petrochemical sector.
Qilu Petrochemical ranks among China’s earliest integrated refining and chemical operators with three core development orientations. First, it functions as a major clean fuel supply base for East China to guarantee regional transportation energy security. Second, it supplies core basic petrochemical feedstock including synthetic resin and synthetic rubber to support downstream industries such as light industry, automobile and home appliances. Third, it acts as an R&D and production demonstration base for premium new chemical materials to break domestic bottlenecks in special material localization.
Based in Shandong while serving nationwide and global markets, its products cover 31 provincial-level regions across China, and selected high-end grades are exported to more than 20 countries and regions in Europe, America and Southeast Asia.
By the end of 2025, Qilu owns a complete integrated refining and chemical production system with top-tier core capacities across the industry:
In 2024, the company achieved total industrial output value of RMB 118 billion and pre-tax profit over RMB 9 billion, staying on Sinopec’s annual high-profit benchmark list for consecutive years.
Qilu adopts a diversified crude procurement mode dominated by imported oil supplemented by domestic supplies. Imported crude accounts for 80% of total feedstock, sourced from core producing areas in the Middle East, West Africa and South America. Crude is unloaded at Qingdao Port and Yantai Port before transported to plant via dedicated pipelines, cutting logistics cost by 30% compared with highway delivery. Domestic crude, making up the remaining 20%, is mainly supplied from Shengli Oilfield and Bohai Oilfield via Sinopec’s internal resource allocation system.
Supporting facilities include 1.5 million cubic meters of crude oil storage tanks and 800,000 cubic meters of refined oil tanks, enabling over 20 days of emergency stockpile to hedge international crude price volatility and supply disruptions. For auxiliary chemicals, long-term cooperation with Sinopec Catalyst Division and Shandong Haike Group helps secure a 90% self-sufficiency rate of key catalysts and solvents to sustain continuous production.
The integrated refining-olefin-chemical production layout maximizes feedstock utilization and cascade energy recovery. In refining segment, crude is converted into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel via atmospheric-vacuum distillation, meanwhile producing naphtha and hydrocracked tail oil as petrochemical feedstock with an 85% internal feed self-sufficiency ratio. Optimized self-developed FCC technology lifts propylene yield to 18%, 3 percentage points higher than traditional processes. Advanced hydrocracking realizes full upgrade to China National VI diesel standard, with its jet fuel occupying 15% market share at airports across Shandong and Jiangsu.
Centered on ethylene and propylene, the chemical division extends multiple downstream chains of synthetic resin, synthetic rubber and chemical fiber raw materials with 60% inter-plant material mutual supply rate. Naphtha is steam-cracked into ethylene, while by-product propylene and butadiene are directly delivered to downstream units. PE and PP facilities apply advanced domestic gas-phase polymerization to produce diversified homo-polymer and co-polymer grades; low-temperature emulsion polymerization for SBR enables product performance matching global benchmarks, supporting major domestic tire manufacturers.
Finished products serve energy, light industry, automobile, home appliance and construction sectors with a hybrid sales model combining direct end-user supply and industrial cluster collaboration.
Benefiting from Zibo Qilu Chemical Industrial Park, pipeline-based short-distance delivery cuts downstream logistics cost by 20% with hourly-level raw material distribution. Joint R&D platforms with Shandong University of Technology and China University of Petroleum facilitate new formulations for lightweight auto parts and premium packaging materials to boost terminal industrial value.
Qilu builds an innovation system integrating independent R&D, imported technology digestion and industry-university-research cooperation, holding more than 2,000 patents (40% invention patents) with multiple technologies reaching world-leading standards.
Targeting China’s dual-carbon goals and industrial upgrading, Qilu focuses on three R&D directions:
In East China’s refining market: Qilu accounts for 18% of Shandong’s total crude processing capacity (second only to Dongming Petrochemical); its synthetic resin takes 12% national market share while high-end specialty resin reaches 25% in East China; synthetic rubber holds an 18% domestic share with outstanding differentiated strengths in tire-use rubber. Thanks to integrated chain advantages, its raw material cost is 8%–10% lower than industry average with stronger anti-cyclical risk capacity.
Planned total investment over RMB 30 billion in three landmark projects:
From a basic domestic energy guarantor to an integrated petrochemical benchmark, Qilu Petrochemical’s half-century development mirrors the overall upgrade of China’s refining industry. Supported by complete industrial chain, leading independent innovation and dominant regional market position, it remains irreplaceable as East China’s energy chemical cornerstone.
Driven by green, high-end and intelligent transformation under China’s dual-carbon policy, Qilu is steadily shifting from conventional energy supplier to premium advanced material provider. With ongoing project implementation and strategic execution, the enterprise will further consolidate its regional leading edge, set industrial benchmarks for domestic high-end material localization and low-carbon development, and fuel sustainable high-quality growth of China’s refining and petrochemical industry.
