China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.) said on Saturday that it would acquire equity interests of three oil refineries and 63 gas stations from its parent company, Sinopec Group Company.

Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical, a subsidiary wholly owned by Sinopec Corp., will also acquire equity interests of two oil refineries from Sinopec Group.

Under an agreement signed between Sinopec Corp. and Sinopec Group on Friday, Sinopec Corp. will acquire from Sinopec Group the 100 percent state-owned equity interest in Sinopec Hangzhou Oil Refinery Plant, as well as the 59.47 percent state-owned equity in Yangzhou Petrochemical Plant and a 75 percent interest under the joint venture contract of Zhanjiang Dongxing Petrochemical Company Limited.

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

Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical entered into two equity transfer agreements with Sinopec Group on Friday to acquire Sinopec Group's 100 percent state-owned equity interest in Taizhou Petrochemical and 100 percent state-owned shareholding in Qingjiang Petrochemical.

The acquisitions are valued at 3.66 billion yuan (501 million U.S. dollars), to be paid for by the internal resources of Sinopec Corp. and Sinopec Yangzi Petrochemical.

The acquisition of the gas station operating rights was expected to rationalize Sinopec Corp.'s marketing of its petroleum products, facilitate the expansion of its refined oil retail network and enhance its refined oil sales capability, said Sinopec Corp.

The five refineries have a total annual capacity of 8 million tonnes.

The proposed transactions require approval of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission and other relevant authorities.

Listed in Hong Kong, Shanghai, New York and London, Sinopec Corp. is an integrated energy and chemical company. Sinopec Group Company, China's largest refiner, holds 75.84 percent of Sinopec Corp.

(Xinhua News Agency December 30, 2007)