China’s Sinopec will pay almost $1 billion for a 75% stake in Chevron’s South African assets and its subsidiary in Botswana to secure its first major refinery in Africa, the companies announced on Wednesday. China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, or Sinopec, Asia’s largest oil refiner, said the assets include a 100,000 barrel-per-day oil refinery in Cape Town, a lubricants plant in Durban as well as 820 petrol stations and other oil storage facilities. Chevron Global Energy said in a statement that Sinopec’s bid was selected in part because of the better terms and conditions it offered. The deal is subject to regulatory approval, Reuters reports. With a growing middle class, demand in South Africa for refined petroleum has increased by nearly 5% annually over the past five years, to a current total of about 27 million tonnes, Sinopec said.