Sinopec in talks with Aramco on crude reserves

State-owned China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. is in talks with Saudi Aramco on supplying crude oil for its commercial reserves in China, Sinopec Corp. President Wang Tianpu said. Wang said Sinopec was hoping to tap Saudi Aramco to build its commercial crude oil reserves in three key regions in coastal China, where majority of the company’s existing refineries are located. In the Yangtze delta area, Wang said Sinopec planned to build the Lanshan crude storage facility in Ningbo city, in eastern Zhejiang province. The pipeline is linked to the 27-million-ton-per-year pipeline that supplies Sinopec refineries along the banks of the Yangtze River. He added that the entire commercial crude reserve program would take five years to develop. In April 2006, Saudi Aramco signed a memorandum of understanding with Sinopec to strengthen their strategic commercial partnership, with the former committed to supplying Sinopec and its affiliates with 1 million barrels per day of Arabian crude oil by 2010. (August 27, 2007)