The two refineries - Xi'an Petrochemical and Tahe Petrochemical - are located in the north western part of China and represents Sinopec's only refineries in that region.

The consideration for the purchases will be approximately 220.8 million yuan for Xi'an and 135.2 million for Tahe, with both acquisitions to be completed within six months of March 2004.

Sinopec has also announced that it is looking into ways of boosting both companies' crude oil processing capacity as demand for oil products continues to outgrow local production capacity.