HONG KONG: Sinopec Corp, Asia's largest oil refiner, plans to restructure its retail and wholesale business and sell up to 30 percent of the unit as China's government promotes private investment in the country's oil industry.
The state-run company's board passed a resolution on Wednesday to restructure the oil product marketing activities and "diversify the ownership by way of introducing social and private capital," it said in a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange. The board has authorised the company to bring in "social and private investors" who would acquire up to 30 percent of the business, said Sinopec, formally known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.
The statement gave no further details.
Sinopec's marketing division contains both wholesale and retail operations, with more than 30,000 petrol stations across the country.
The business posted an unaudited operating profit of 27.03 billion yuan ($4.46 billion) for the first nine months of 2013, down 10.5 percent year on year.
The government in Beijing said in November it was studying ways to allow more private investment in the energy sector, as part of a wider reform to boost the economy.
PetroChina , the country's dominant oil and gas producer, has divested part of its pipeline businesses, raising billions of dollars.
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