By Wan Zhihong (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-01-02 09:59

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.