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China's Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) has given environmental clearance to a massive fuel oil blending project in the southern province of Guangdong.

MEP clearance paves the way for final state approval of the project to produce around 10 million tonnes of blended fuel oil per year in Daya Bay, Huizhou, which borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west.

Project builder and operator Huizhou Daya Bay Huaying Petrochemical Co. would blend the imported fuel oil into bunker fuel or oil for power generation or coking, according to market sources.

The 2.5 billion yuan (US$376 million) project is also said to include the construction of a 300,000-tonne fuel oil terminal and total storage capacity of 1.03 million cubic metres.

The plan to blend 10 million tonnes, or approximately 180,000 barrels per day, is around 40-45 percent of the country's total fuel oil imports.