Rosneft, CNPC in Chinese joint venture

A joint venture has been established between Rosneft, Russia’s largest oil supplier, and China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) that will set up around 300 gas stations and process 10 million tons of crude oil a year, Rosneft’s President Sergei Bogdanchikov announced in November. CNPC will own 51% of the company and Rosneft the remainder, said Bogdanchikov. He added that the 300 service stations will use gas from China or Russia, depending on which is less expensive. Rosneft is projected to transmit 1.5 million tons of oil to China through the Atasu-Alataw Pass pipeline linking China and Kazakhstan. (November 13, 2006)