PetroChina cleared to buy Osaka refinery stake

China has given approval to PetroChina to invest in Nippon Oil's Osaka refinery, finalising the Chinese state energy giant's second overseas refinery takeover.

The National Development and Reform Commission, the country's planning agency said on its website (www.ndrc.gov.cn) that approval for the Osaka plant purchase was granted in June, but gave no details.

Industry officials have said PetroChina and Nippon Oil were expected to have finalised a deal by around the end of June for the Chinese oil major to buy 49 percent of the 115,000-barrel-per-day Osaka refinery.

PetrChina, through its trading vehicle Chinaoil, has in recent years been in crude processing deals with Nippon Oil, using some of the surplus production capacity owned by Japan's largest refiner as the world's No.3 oil consumer faces sliding fuel demand.

The deal would allow PetroChina to take charge of all crude supply and product offtake of the refinery.

In May, PetroChina, Asia's largest producer of oil and gas, announced in May that it would acquire a 45.5 percent stake in Singapore Petroleum Co for $1.02 billion, as the company moved to expand its refining capacity outside China to achieve its trading ambitions.