China Approves Sinopec’s Purchase of Colombian Blocks

Beijing, December 21st, 2010 - China Petrochemical Corporation, the nation’s largest refiner, received state approval to buy Colombian oil and gas assets owned by Hupecol LLC., according to the country’s economic planner.

China Petrochemical, or Sinopec Group, has completed the deal, Huang Wensheng, a company spokesman, said by mobile from Beijing today. The company didn’t make an announcement on the purchases because it’s “a rather small deal”, he said, without elaborating. Today’s statement on the website of the National Development and Reform Commission didn’t give details.

The commission also gave approval for Sinopec’s acquisition of a 20 percent stake in two blocks from Petroleo Brasileiro SA, according to another statement on the commission’s website today.

China National Offshore Oil Corp. received go-ahead for its purchase of a 33.33 percent stake in the Eagle Ford shale project from Chesapeake Energy Corporation, according to the commission.

The authority also issued approvals for PetroChina Company’s plan to build a 3.5 million ton-a-year liquefied natural gas receiving terminal in Tangshan and China National Petroleum Corporation’s third gas pipeline from Shaanxi to Beijing. - Bloomberg

Sinopec, BASF sign MOU to expand capacity of Nanjing Petrochemical

Beijing, December 20th, 2010 - China Petroleum and Chemical Co. or Sinopec Corp. signed an MOU with German-based BASF to jointly add one billion US dollars of investment in expanding production capacity of their joint venture Nanjing Petrochemical in east China's Jiangsu province, according to a statement jointly released by the two companies.

The statement said the investment would be used to newly build acrylic acid unit with production capacity of 160,000 metric tons per year and a butyl acrylate plant.

Wang Tianpu, president of Sinopec Corp., said in the statement that the expanded production capacity would be able to satisfy the growing demand of new materials in east China and whole country as well.

BASF and Sinopec in 2000 established the joint venture BASF-YPC Company Limited with each holding 50 percent stake. - Xinhua

Sinopec Zhenhai refinery crude oil throughput exceeds 20mil ton by mid-December

Beijing, December 20th, 2010 - Sinopec Zhenhai refinery's crude oil throughput has exceeded 20 million metric tons by December 16, becoming the first Chinese refinery to surpass such refining quantity, the company newspaper reported on Monday.


Zhenhai refinery has an annual oil refining capacity of 23 million metric tons after completion of a string of upgrading projects in 2008, while its ethylene cracking capacity was 1 million metric tons per year.

Zhenhai refinery ranks China's largest crude oil refining unit and positions the 17th largest refinery in the world. - Xinhua News Agency

Chevron Sells Interest in Indonesia Gas Project to Sinopec

Indonesia, December 2nd, 2010 - Chevron Corp. agreed to sell a stake in the Gendalo-Gehem natural gas development in Indonesia to China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, better known as Sinopec.

The 18 percent farm-down is subject to regulatory approval in Indonesia and China, Singapore-based Chevron spokesman Gareth Johnstone said in an e-mail today. Chevron currently has an 80 percent interest in the project, which is located in the deep- water Makassar Strait and may eventually produce 1.1 billion cubic feet of gas and 31,000 barrels of condensate a day. Financial details weren’t disclosed.

San Ramon, California-based Chevron said that it awarded front-end engineering and design contracts for the development to Technip Indonesia, PT Worley Parsons Indonesia, and PT Singgar Mulia, according to a statement.

“The completion of this project will strengthen our regional portfolio of major gas projects and enhance our position as a leading supplier of natural gas and liquefied natural gas in the Asia-Pacific region,” said George Kirkland, Chevron vice-chairman. - Bloomberg