MOSCOW (MRC) -- Sinopec, Asia’s biggest refiner, said it will push ahead this year with a government-driven agenda to open up state-controlled industries, as China’s energy companies search for private capital, reported Bloomberg.
The company and domestic peer PetroChina Co. are seeking private investors for some units. Sinopec, officially known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., will sell as much as 30% of its oil retail business, in a sale Barclays Plc (BARC) estimates could raise more than USD20 billion. PetroChina and its parent China National Petroleum Corp., are considering opening up areas including pipelines, oil and gas exploration and refining to private capital.
"In 2014, the company expects to make significant advances in its development by fully embracing reform, leading to corporate transformation, organizational vigor and stronger corporate values," Sinopec Chairman Fu Chengyu said yesterday in a statement.
The Beijing-based company yesterday reported 2013 net income rose 3.4% to 66.1 billion yuan (USD10.6 billion), missing the 67.8 billion yuan mean of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
"Sinopec is the most tied to the Chinese economy of the major oil companies and the economy might be grinding a bit slower this year," said Simon Powell, head of oil and gas research as CLSA Ltd. "All the talk of reform is great, restructuring the marketing business is great, but the bottom line is ultimately driven by the domestic economy."
China is pushing the most aggressive reforms in more than a decade as President Xi Jinping works to increase market forces in the economy. The nation set a 7.5% target for growth in 2014, matching last year’s goal, Premier Li Keqiang told the annual legislature meeting in Beijing this month. China’s economy actually grew 7.7% in 2013.
China Petrochemical Corp., the state-owned parent of Sinopec, has said it will build shale gas capacity at its Fuling site to 5 billion cubic meters a year by 2015, suggesting a national target of 6.5 billion cubic meters will be met or surpassed.
PetroChina, the country’s largest oil producer, is also cutting expenditure. It said last week its spending target for 2014 was 7.1% lower than the previous year. The company reported net income rose 12% to 129.6 billion yuan last year, beating the 125.7 billion yuan mean of 13 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
As MRC wrote before, last June, Sinopec officially commenced operations at its new lubricant facility in Singapore. The lubricant plant, with an initial production capacity of 100,000 tpy, is the company's first direct overseas investment. The company, a unit of China Petrochemical Corp., said it plans to expand its operations in Asia-Pacific, with the Singapore plant as its regional hub.
China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec Limited is a Chinese oil and gas company based in Beijing, China. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai and New York . Sinopec is the worlds fifth biggest company by revenue.
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