BP has declined Sinopec's offer to buy its assets

Asia’s biggest refiner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec), said BP plc, Europe’s largest oil producer by volume, has declined an offer by the Chinese company to buy some of its assets. “We’ve talked to BP on some good assets, but they won’t sell,” said Zhang Jianhua, Sinopec’s senior vice president, without naming the ventures. BP plans to dispose of as much as US$30 billion in assets in the next 18 months to raise cash to meet the costs of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. BP is considering selling fields in Colombia, Venezuela and Vietnam, a person with knowledge of the matter said. BP may also dispose of its 60% holding in Pan American Energy LLC, Argentina’s second-largest oil producer. (July 30, 2010)