OREANDA-NEWS. September 12, 2014. China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (386), Asia’s top refiner, drew interest from China Life Insurance Co. (2628) and ENN Energy Holdings Ltd. (2688) as it seeks to raise about USD16 billion selling a third of its fuel-retailing business. China Life’s board approved a proposal to participate in Sinopec’s stake sale, the country’s top insurer said yesterday in a statement.

There is no assurance the company will invest in the unit, it said. A subsidiary of gas supplier ENN Energy submitted an offer and is in talks with Sinopec, it said in a separate exchange filing. China Petroleum, known as Sinopec, has shortlisted 37 potential buyers for its retail unit and is in talks to complete terms, the refiner’s Chairman Fu Chengyu said this week. Sinopec is at the forefront of China’s push to restructure state-controlled companies and allow markets a bigger role in the allocation of resources.

“Sinopec is picking up tremendous amount of interest in the retail unit,” said Neil Beveridge, a Hong Kong-based analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “Some great brands are lining up to participate and the reason is clear -- this is one of the best retail assets anyone can get in the Chinese market.” China Life and ENN Energy are the first investors to announce their intention to invest in the Sinopec unit. Sinopec Sales Co. runs more than 30,000 fuel stations and 23,000 convenience stores in China. Convenience Stores The fuel retailer made a profit of 25.1 billion yuan on revenue of 1.5 trillion yuan in 2013. It will add convenience stores, car and financial services and advertising at its pumps, according to a Sinopec statement on June 30. Beijing-based Sinopec is seeking to raise as much as 100 billion yuan (\\$16 billion) by selling about a third of its stake in China’s biggest fuel-station operator, people familiar with the matter said in July. The unit is a “huge gold mine,” whose full potential “hasn’t been tapped,” Fu said on a conference call with analysts in March.

Two calls to Sinopec’s Beijing-based spokesman yesterday weren’t answered. China Life is in the midst of cutting its stock holdings and boosting alternative investments including property, infrastructure and trust products, the company said yesterday. It reduced its equity portfolio to 5.26 percent as of June 30 from 7.5 percent at the end of last year. LNG Stations ENN Energy said last week it will increase cooperation with Sinopec’s fuel-station business. ENN currently operates about 60 LNG dispensers for trucks and large vehicles within Sinopec’s retail network and plans to expand that nationwide, Vice Chairman Cheung Yip said on Aug. 25. Sinopec added Tencent Holdings Ltd., Asia’s biggest Internet company, on Aug. 26 to its roster of partners for its fuel-station business, according to an e-mailed statement. Tencent will cooperate with Sinopec Sales in areas including mobile payments, media marketing, online-to-offline business, navigation and customer-loyalty programs, according to the statement. Sinopec has also signed China Taiping Insurance Holdings Co. (966) and e-commerce company yhd.com as strategic partners.