摘要
Amid the global fall in crude oil prices and a supply glut, a coal-oil project with an investment of 16.4 billion yuan （US$2.58 billion） started production on Friday in Yulin, Shaanxi Province, with experts expressing concerns about the economic efficiency of such industries. Shaanxi Futer Energy and Chemicals Co., Ltd., controlled by Yankuang Group, a State-owned coal producer headquartered in Yanzhou, Shandong Province, is the owner of the project which makes oil from coal. The first phase of the project has an annual capacity of 1.1 million metric tons. The company plans to have a capacity of 10.1 million tons when the second phase is complete, but no clear timetable has been charted yet. Responding to concerns about the profitability of the coal-oil project due to low crude prices, the company said though the coal chemical investments are high, the lower coal prices make it viable.
