PetroChina makes first move into European refining

摘要

London-China's state-owned PetroChina and UK-based chemicals major Ineos signed Janu- ary 10 an agreement to form an oil refining and trading joint venture in Europe, marking China's first move into the European refining industry and allowing debt-laden Ineos to fur- ther strengthen its leveraged balance sheet. The deal, to be finalized over the coming months, covers Ineos' Grangemouth refinery in Scotland, UK, and the Lavera refinery out- side Marseille in southern France, which each process around 210,000 b/d of crude.