This Day, That Year

Item from July 11, 1983, in China Daily: China Petrochemical Corp was established today to accelerate the development of the oil and gas sector.

The company will be responsible for the overall planning and management of the production and the import and export business of the country’s petrochemical industry.

For the past few decades, China’s oil and gas sector has been dominated by three State-owned heavyweights: China National Petroleum Corp, China Petrochemical Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp.

In May, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, unveiled a

reform plan to open up the country’s energy sector.

The long-awaited reform aims to create a flexible and efficient market-oriented mechanism with the incorporation of private shareholders to improve the management of State-owned companies.

Private entities are now welcome to invest in and run oil and gas storage facilities.

Oil majors are already taking action.

Sinopec Group, the listed arm of China Petrochemical Corp, plans to cooperate with private companies in sales of refined oil, while the CNPC said it will allow private companies to hold up to a combined stake of 49 percent in oil exploration businesses.

In April, Sinopec announced that it has approved the overseas listing of its majority-owned subsidiary Sinopec Marketing Co.

It is seen as the latest move to further open up the country’s energy markets.

The number of over seas listed shares to be issued will be 10 percent of the total share capital, according to the company.

Last year, the group’s net

profits rose by 43.8 percent, reaching 46.4 billion yuan ($6.75 billion), while its operating revenue fell by 4.4 percent to 1.93 trillion yuan.

China aims to increase domestic crude oil output to 200 million metric tons by 2020, while the supply capacity for natural gas should exceed 360 billion cubic meters, according to a government plan released in January.