Market awaits potential IPO of Sinopec, which owns 30,000 stations: WSJ reports

While any initial public offering for China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec, is unlikely to happen this year, if and whenever it happens it will be a long anticipated event as the market has long been eyeing this company which has 30,000 fuel stations, including 23,000 with convenience stores, WSJ said in an analysis.

According to an early May Wall Street Journal report, the IPO could help Sinopec raise some $10 billion which it could “use to make the shops attached to its gas stations more lucrative”.

The WSJ said that any IPO is unlikely to happen because government officials are now more careful in light of the corruption trial of Jiang Jiemin, the former head of China National Petroleum Corp.

However, the plans do exist for a share listing at an undetermined date in the Hong Kong exchange to raise funds, company officials have said.