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Lukoil in talks with China on gas station network: report
AFP
MOSCOW
Petroleumworld.com 08 31 06
Lukoil, Russia's biggest private oil company, is in talks with China's state oil company CNPC on a joint venture to set up a network of retail gasoline stations covering three provinces in northeast China, a report said Thursday.
Lukoil and the China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) are talking about plans to open and manage more than 100 filling stations to meet China's booming demand for oil and other petroleum products, the business daily Kommersant said, quoting an unnamed source.
In exchange for the access to China's lucrative retail market for refined petroleum products, CNPC is seeking an agreement from Lukoil for direct access to Russian oil extraction, an accord similar to one CNPC has already reached with Russia's state-run oil giant Rosneft.
Lukoil declined to confirm the report but Kommersant quoted a company spokesman as saying that China "represents a strategic interest to the company".
Lukoil already sells oil to China transported by railway but is also exploring possibilities for handling pipeline delivery of oil from Kazakhstan to China, the daily said.
Energy cooperation between resource-rich Russia and China has intensified dramatically in the past two years, and Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear that the Kremlin regards Asia in general and China in particular as a major economic partner in years ahead.
During a visit to Beijing in March, Russian state-run gas giant Gazprom confirmed plans to build two natural gas pipelines to China.
AFP 31 0749 GMT 08 06
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