Officials at the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC) have revealed that operations on its first oil refinery are likely to be delayed by up to two months after heavy summer rains.

The country's third largest oil and gas company now expects to open its 240,000 barrel per day plant, which is located in the southern Guangdong province, in November, rather than at the end of September, as was originally anticipated.

"Earlier it was the ice storms that delayed delivery of some equipment. Then in June heavy rainfall in Guangdong almost brought construction works to a complete halt," one CNOOC official told Reuters.

"It will be an optimistic goal that we start to produce on-specification fuels by the end of the year."

The news has already prompted the government to call on China's state-run oil and gas companies to bring new plants on line and step up production levels so as to meet growing consumer demand.

Presently, China is the world's second largest user, though just one new refinery has been brought into operation so far this year.

Global Education and Training event for Oil and Gas: Refining & Petrochemicals