Sinopec Corp, Asia’s largest refiner, will acquire equity interests in
three oil refineries and 63 petrol stations from its parent Sinopec
Group to boost refined oil sales.

The company has signed an agreement with its parent to buy the Sinopec
Hangzhou Oil Refinery Plant, take a 59.5 percent stake in Yangzhou
Petrochemical Plant and a 75 percent interest under a joint venture
contract with Zhanjiang Dongxing Petrochemical Co Ltd, said a Sinopec Corp
statement.

Sinopec Corp will also acquire the operating rights of 63 petrol
stations from Sinopec Sales and Industrial Co, a wholly owned subsidiary of
Sinopec Group.

Sinopec Group owns a 75.84 percent stake in Sinopec Corp.

Under another agreement, Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical, a subsidiary
wholly owned by Sinopec Corp, entered into two equity transfer agreements
with Sinopec Group to buy Taizhou Petrochemical and Qingjiang
Petrochemical.

These acquisitions are valued at 3.66 billion yuan ($500.68 million),
to be paid for with the resources of Sinopec Corp and Sinopec Yangzi
Petrochemical.

“The deal will further improve the company’s refined oil retail network
and enhance its refined oil sales capability,” Sinopec Corp said in
the statement.

The five refineries have a total annual capacity of 8 million tons, the
statement said.

The proposed transactions need approval from the State-owned Assets
Supervision and Administration Commission and other authorities, it said.

Sinopec Corp earlier said it expects to process 42.5 million tons of
crude oil in the final quarter of 2007, up 7.5 percent from the third
quarter. The amount represents an increment of 500,000 tons over its
original fourth-quarter plan.

The company processed 980,000 tons more crude last November from a year
earlier, a record on a daily basis. It also imported 287,000 tons of
diesel in the month.

PetroChina, the nation’s biggest oil producer, is poised to increase
oil-refining volume by nearly 12 percent in 2007, according to its senior
officials.

By Wang Zhihong