Sinopec agrees to buy into Angolan oilfield

Sinopec Group, Asia's largest refiner, has agreed to buy 10 percent of Marathon Oil Corp's Angolan offshore oil and gas field for $1.52 billion. Sonangal Sinopec International Ltd, a group subsidiary, will acquire 10 percent of the shares in Houston-based Marathon's field, Block 31, the State-owned oil company said.

Marathon is a United States-based independent oil company that owns a 10 percent stake of Block 31 and a 10 percent stake of Block 32.

Block 31 is operated by British oil giant BP Plc and has estimated proved and probable reserves of 533 million barrels, according to Sinopec. Sinopec will own up to 15 percent of Block 31 under the deal.

Aluminum stockpiles fall after purchases, output cuts

Aluminum inventories in China's major trading regions are estimated to have declined to their lowest level in four months as the government purchased metal and smelters cut output.

Stockpiles in warehouses in four major trading hubs fell to 968,000 metric tons as of June 20 from a record 1.317 million in April, according to a survey of warehouses in four cities by data provider SMM Information & Technology Co.

Holdings in six hubs fell to 1.12 million tons as of June 17 from a record of 1.512 million in early April, according to Li Xun, an analyst at Myyouse.com.

China's state reserves manager in March said it would buy 300,000 tons of aluminum from the nation's biggest smelters to give financial help to the producers and boost market prices.

Beijing Automotive starts unit for foreign acquisitions

Beijing Automotive Group Co, which manufactures vehicles with Daimler AG and Hyundai Motor Co in China, has started a unit to spearhead acquisitions abroad, starting with Europe.

The carmaker aims to generate 2.5 billion yuan ($408 million) of profit from abroad with a vehicle-sales target of 400,000 units by 2020. Newly established BAIC International Development Co will be in charge of overseas acquisitions and investment as well as boosting international vehicle and parts sales, according to Dong Haiyang, president of the unit.

BAIC International is seeking targets in Europe, and investment banks have found three medium-size automakers with a "good brand image," Dong told a news conference.

"We want to acquire such mid-sized brands in Europe while the economy is sluggish, so we can use their facilities as a production base to expand there."

Oil inventories up in May as refineries do repairs

China's commercial crude oil inventories rose 4.75 percent at the end of May from a month earlier, a publication of the official Xinhua News Agency said on Monday, as refineries scaled back crude runs for maintenance.

Refined fuel stocks, however, fell 4.54 percent month-on-month, the newsletter Xinhua OGP said.

Among refined fuels, diesel inventories sank 8.87 percent from end-April and kerosene stocks fell 1.85 percent, while gasoline stocks inched up 0.56 percent, OGP said.

Huarong Asset to raise $2b with stake sale of 15-20%

China's Huarong Asset Management Corp plans to raise up to $2 billion by selling a stake of 15 to 20 percent, two sources told Reuters, becoming the country's second asset management company to sell a minority stake to outsiders.

Huarong, established in 1999, is the biggest of the four funds that China's government set up to remove an estimated 1.4 trillion yuan ($230 billion) worth of bad loans from the country's top four state lenders as they were preparing for initial public offerings.

Huarong has invited banks to make pitches to win an advisory role in the sale, and it recently appointed one to run the process, according to one unidentified source.

Lhasa sees 36% rise in visitors in first 5 months

More than 1.18 million tourists visited southwest China's Lhasa City, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, between January and May, the local tourism bureau said on Monday.

Statistics from the bureau show that the number of visitors was up 35.9 percent year-on-year, while tourism revenue reached 1.03 billion yuan ($166.7 million), up 49.4 percent.

China Daily - Agencies

(China Daily USA 06/25/2013 page14)