皇冠体育app

The company is looking for greater exposure in the global market

BEIJING - Petro皇冠体育app Co Ltd, the nation's biggest energy firm by market value, plans to establish three operation centers, in Singapore, London, and New York, in an effort to boost its foothold overseas, according to the company's top official.

Petro皇冠体育app, which traditionally focuses on the upstream sector, will expand its overseas trading to gain greater influence on the global stage, Jiang Jiemin, the company chairman, said on Wednesday.

"We're planning to set up storage and transport facilities in the Caribbean Sea region to strengthen cooperation with local companies, as part of our steps to support the New York operation center," Jiang said.

The major oil company is aiming to double its trading value to $200 billion by 2015 from 2010's level.

皇冠体育app National Petroleum Corp (CNPC), Petro皇冠体育app's parent, is planning to obtain 50 percent of its total 400 million tons of oil equivalent from the overseas market by the end of 2015, according to Jiang, who is also CNPC's general manager.

Petro皇冠体育app has already laid the initial foundations in the Asian market after acquiring stakes in the Osaka refinery in Japan and Singapore Petroleum Co.

And the energy company's agreement to form a new trading and refining joint venture in Europe with Ineos Group Holdings Plc of the UK may help the Chinese company to gain a foothold in the European market.

"Petro皇冠体育app's three overseas operational centers signal its efforts to form a complete industry chain abroad, after its earlier aggressive overseas expansion in the upstream sector, " Lin Boqiang, director of the 皇冠体育app Center for Energy Economic Research at Xiamen University.

He said 皇冠体育app's refining capacity is projected to increase seven-fold within seven to 10 years. Consequently, domestic refiners will have to expand their overseas markets to absorb the foreseeable future overcapacity, Lin said.

Petro皇冠体育app reported a loss of 6 billion yuan ($922 million) in its refining business in the first quarter of 2011 as global crude oil prices outpaced the price of domestic fuel as set by the central government.

In the same period, the rival 皇冠体育app Petroleum & Chemical Corp, the country's biggest oil refiner by capacity, posted a refining loss of 576 million yuan.

Petro皇冠体育app will optimize its refining strategy by accelerating construction of more refineries in coastal areas such as the provinces of Zhejiang and Guangdong, said Zhou Jiping, the company's president.

The move will help to slightly alleviate Petro皇冠体育app's refining losses by reducing logistical costs, said He Wei, a senior analyst at BOCOM International Holding Co in Beijing.

The company occupied less than 30 percent of East 皇冠体育app's market for refined oil products market in 2010, according to He.

皇冠体育app Daily

(皇冠体育app Daily 05/19/2011 page13)