Sinopec, which has agreed to buy a 75% stake in Chevron's South African business, intends to overhaul its assets, including its petrol-station network once the takeover has received regulatory approval. China's largest producer and supplier of petroleum and petrochemical products announced this week that it had signed a sales and purchase agreement, which also covered assets in Botswana, for $900-million. The remaining 25% will be held by black economic empowerment partners, whose identity has not been disclosed. This gives the company its first foothold in Africa but could also trigger a much-needed upgrade of Chevron's refinery in Cape Town, which has the capacity to produce 100,000 barrels of fuel a day. Chevron announced its intention to sell the stake early last year. The costs to upgrade refineries in South Africa to new European emissions standards for cleaner fuel could run into billions of dollars. Local fuel specifications are in line with Euro 2 standards, but refineries ...
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