CHINA Petroleum to start trials at new plant

CHINA Petroleum & Chemical Corp, Asia's largest refiner, will start trial processing at a 12.5 billion yuan (US$1.7 billion) plant in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao in May to meet rising fuel demand.

Sinopec, as Beijing-based China Petroleum is known, will complete construction within one month, parent China Petrochemical Corp said in its online newsletter Sinopecnews yesterday, citing Sinopec Vice President Zhang Kehua.

The company started constructing the 10 million metric tons-a-year refinery in June 2005 to bolster its ability to supply fuels and chemicals to the world's fastest-growing major economy.

China's economy expanded 11.5 percent in the third quarter of last year.

The state oil refiner is in talks to sell a 25- percent stake in the venture to Saudi Aramco. The talks may be completed "anytime" after partners agreed some terms, including how the price will be set, Abdulaziz F. Al-Khayyal, the Saudi company's senior vice-president for industrial relations, said on September 7.