Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 20, 2004
Shell, Sinopec gas station plan ok'd
Royal Dutch Shell Group and its Chinese partner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, also called Sinopec Corp, have received a go-ahead signal from China' oil authority for their joint gas station plan, today's Homeway.com.cn reported, citing industry sources.
Royal Dutch Shell Group and its Chinese partner, China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation, also called Sinopec Corp, have received a go-ahead signal from China' oil authority for their joint gas station plan, today's Homeway.com.cn reported, citing industry sources.
According to the sources, the two companies have received government approval for the feasibility proposal on building 500 gas stations in east China's Jiangsu Province.
If true, Shell will become the first overseas company to enter China's retailing market of oil products.
Under China's commitment to its promise for entry into the World Trade Organization, China will open up the oil retailing market in early 2005 and the wholesale market two years later.
Shell hasn't fully confirmed the gas station report, however.
Its spokesperson Lu Shali said the two companies are still in the final stage of negotiation for the joint gas station project. If the talks turn successful, they will start the project in three months in Jiangsu, she added.
With a plan to build 1,000 gas stations in China in five years, Shell expects to add its investment in the country to US$5 billion from the current US$1.6 billion, the Homeway.com.cn report said, citing unidentified officials with the company.