BP could take Sinopec stake

Approval has been given for a joint venture between Sinopec and BP, which could lead to the British refiner taking a 25% stake in its Chinese counterpart worth US$14 billion, reported UK newspaper the Observer. A BP spokesman claimed no knowledge of the deal although he did acknowledge that the company was keen to expand its China investments and was in negotiations with Beijing as to how this can be achieved. BP, the world's second-largest listed oil company, has a number of small joint ventures in China and it is claimed that an earlier bid for a stake in Sinopec, the listed arm of China Petroleum Chemical Corp, was turned down.