Sinopec trims franchised outlets

Though ranking third worldwide in the number of filling stations, China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) seems to be integrating them as the total number of its filling stations had declined by 2.9% from 29,647 at the end of 2005 to 28,801 by the end of 2006. The decline was attributed mainly to the sharp fall in the number of franchised filling stations, which declined by 65% from 2,280 in 2005 to 800 in 2006. In 2006, however, Sinopecs domestic sales of oil products was up 6.8% to 111.68 million tons. (April 11, 2007)