Posted on 08/30/2013 4:15:18 PM PDT by TexGrill
China Petrochemical Corp, the parent company of China Petroleum & Chemical (Sinopec), has agreed to acquire a one-third stake in the Egyptian oil and gas operations of United States-based Apache for US$3.1 billion, making it its first foray into politically troubled Egypt.
The investment, coupled with rival PetroChina's recent indication that it has been in advanced talks to team up with global oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil to develop the latter's oilfield in Iraq, highlights the resolve of Chinese state energy firms to enhance national energy security despite the Middle East and North Africa's heightened geopolitical risks.
China Petrochemical said the investment would add oil and gas output of 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, which amounts to 8.7 per cent of its daily production of 1.5 million barrels last year, according to Bloomberg.
The company is the world's second-largest oil refiner and China's second-largest oil and gas producer.
It has been the most aggressive buyer of overseas assets in the past few years, among the three mainland state-backed oil and gas exploration and production majors.
The acquired assets are located in Egypt's West Desert, and are estimated by China Petrochemical to have recoverable proved and probable reserve of 641 million barrels of oil, and natural gas equivalent to 632 million barrels of oil.
(Excerpt) Read more at scmp.com ...
Wow. APA should have sold the whole thing.
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