China suspends top oil firms' projects to tackle air pollution
国家停止石油公司项目治理空气污染
The Ministry of Environmental Protection will stop approving some new refining projects and upgrades of existing facilities of the country's two biggest oil companies.
SINOPEC Group failed to meet a target to cut nitrogen oxide emissions in 2012. China National Petroleum Corporation failed to meet targets to cut chemical oxygen demand.
The ministry said that the penalty is the most severe ever. But the energy-saving projects and projects concerning the upgrading of oil products are excluded from the suspension.
The suspension will be lifted based on assessments of the two companies’ performance in emission reduction in the first half of this year.