Sinopec eyes second refinery with Aramco

China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) hopes to finalize within the year a deal with Saudi Aramco to run a second joint-venture refinery in China’s eastern Shandong province, a company executive said on March 7. The Middle Eastern company would take a 25% stake and supply crude to the new Qingdao refinery, Du Guosheng, assistant general manager of Sinopec, said. Saudi Arabia was China’s largest crude oil supplier in 2006, with shipments to the mainland totaling 23.87 million tons. (March 7, 2007)