LENG-HU PETROLEUM REFINERY AND STORAGE LENG-HU, CHINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: NGA Records (Formerly NIMA)
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP79T00909A000500010014-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 28, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 18, 2008
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: June 1, 1969
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2008/06/18: CIA-RDP79T00909A000500010014-6
Top Secret
DIRECTORATE OF
INTELLIGENCE
Industrial Facilities
(Non-Military)
Basic Imagery Interpretation Report
Leng-hu Petroleum Refinery And Storage
Leng-hu, China
Top Secret
DATE JUNE 1969
COPY 10 4
PAGES 8
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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
Directorate of Intelligence
Imagery Analysis Service
Leng-hu Petroleum Refinery and Storage
UTM COORDINATES
46SEH327742
GEOGRAPHIC COORDINATES
38-36-40N 093-22-30E
ACIC. USATC 200, Sheet M0333-9HL, 1st e
Dec 64, Scale 1:200,000 (SECRET
None Required
The Leng-hu Petroleum Refinery is of small size and capacity with
facilities capable of performing only simple distillation processes. When
first covered by photography in August 1961, construction was approaching
the mid-stage. By July 1963, at least one of the, main distillation units
was in place and probably in operation. The facilities were all completed
and probably in full operation by September 1965. Production since then
appears to have been consistent, but at a low level. The products of this
refinery include straight-run gasoline, kerosene, diesel and fuel oils, and
residuum.
This report includes a detailed line drawing, a photograph of the area,
mensuration of storage tanks, and a discussion of the status of facilities.
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The.,'Leng-hu Petroleum Refinery and Storage Area are located in north-
west Tsinghai Province in the desert area of the northern Tsaidam Basin.
Since the mid-1950's, the basin has been the scene of considerable explora-
tion activity for oil and other mineral deposits.l/ The town of Leng-hu,
as presently developed, was built to support the exploration work and the
subsequent drilling and development program in the near-by oil fields.
Vehicular activity, stockpiles of construction materials, the presence of
pipe handling facilities, and construction of an extensive field gathering
and storage. system are indicative of continued exploitation of the Leng-hu
oil deposits.
The refinery is located approximately I nautical mile (nm) east of the
town. Crude oil for charging the refinery is brought in from the near-by
fields by pipeline. Products and crude oil, in excess of that used locally,
are transported from the Leng-hu area by. truck. No pipeline. or railroad
has been constructed into the Leng-hu area. The nearest points of access
to rail facilities are at Hsia-tung, about 160 nm to the northeast, and at
Huang-yuan, about 400 nm east-southeast. The roads connecting Leng-hu with
the rail facilities appear to be either hard surfaced or surface treated
with bituminous material and capable of supporting all-weather traffic.
Physical Features
The refinery is small with the processing facilities occupying a
rectangular area which measures approximately 625 by 2,140 feet and in-
cludes 30 acres.. There is no external security around either the refinery
or storage areas'. The only visible method of limiting access into the
facilities is by control of the only road into the refinery. area.
Construction Status and Activity
.Poor resolution and small scale of the early photography, from August
1961 through September 1964, made detailed analysis of the refinery's early
development impossible,., Part of the processing equipment was probably in
place by..August 1961. Coverage of July 1963, though of poor interpre-
tabi,li,ty, showed that at least half of the distillation equipment and most
of the storage tanks were in.place and probably in use. The first good-
quality, small-scale imagery, dated September 1965, revealed that all of
the processing:and storage facilities as depicted on Figure 3 had been con-
structed.. Since that time, the only changes noted have been in the support
and storage facilities, none of which appear to be of significance with
respect to the refining processes.
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Operational Function
This refinery is capable of performing only simple distillation
processes. The only major refining units present are two primary, atmos-
pheric distillation columns and a smaller, probable redistillation column
for finer fractionation of the atmospheric still products. These facilities
would not be capable of processing very large quantities of crude oil. The
products include straight-run gasoline, kerosene, diesel and fuel oils, and
residuum which could be used for heating and road surface treatment. Most
of the refined products are probably used locally in support of the Tsaidam
Basin exploration and exploitation. It has been reported that small
quantities of gasoline produced at this refinery are shipped by truck to
Tibet.2/
The refinery appears to have been at least in partial operation by
July 1963, and in full operation by September 1965. On all subsequent
coverage, the refinery appeared to be in operation, but at a consistently
low level. The general appearance of the plant and the light truck traffic
within the refinery seem to indicate a low level operation.
Facilities and Equipment
The following table lists the functional areas and equipment within-
the refinery. All items are keyed to Figure 3.
Equipment and Facilities at the
Leng-hu Petroleum Refinery
Area Functional Description
Equipment*
A Crude Oil Distillation 2 Atmospheric stills; each with
flash drum and strippers, bank
of heat exchangers/accumulators,
I pipe furnace, pre-fractionat-
ing treatment equipment, and
control building
I Redistillation still with I
small pipe furnace, a bank of
heat exchangers/accumulators and
a processing/control building
II Processing/support buildings
2 Cascade-type cooling racks
6 Cylindrical tanks,
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Functional Description
B U/I Processing
Equipment*
I Large processing building with
complex roof
8 Processing/storage and support
buildings
I Probable batch agitator/thick
ener, diam. 25 ft.
C Steam Plant I Large building with 4 stacks
I Small support building
3 Cylindrical tanks,
I diam. 25 ft.
2 diam. 15 ft.
D Drum Steaming and I Drum steaming building
Filling 4 Support buildings
3 Cylindrical tanks,
I diam. 25 ft.
Large number of small drums in
open storage
E Intermediates and 8 Misc. buildings
Products Storage 31 Cylindrical tanks,
2 diam. 45 ft.
4 diam. 30 ft.
13 diam. 25 ft.
2 diam. 20 ft.
5 diam. 15 ft.
3 Semiburied tanks
I Earth mound probably containing
storage tanks
4 Tank bases (tanks removed)
I Excavation, possibly for
storage tanks
F Crude and Products 4 Support buildings
Storage and Shipping 7 Cylindrical tanks,
2 diam. 65 ft.
I diam. 60. ft.
I diam. 55- ft.
I diam. 50