April 12 (Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest refiner, plans to buy ConocoPhillips’s stake in oil-sands producer Syncrude Canada Ltd. in a deal that may be worth about $4 billion, a person familiar with the matter said.
An announcement of Beijing-based Sinopec’s purchase may come as soon as today, according to the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private.
Spending by Chinese companies on mining and energy acquisitions reached a record $32 billion last year to power the world’s fastest-growing major economy. ConocoPhillips, which holds a stake of about 9 percent in unlisted Syncrude, said in October it planned to sell $10 billion of assets over two years to cut debt.
John Roper, a spokesman for Houston-based ConocoPhillips, declined to immediately comment. A spokesman for Sinopec wasn’t immediately available to comment after regular business hours. Cheryl Robb, a spokeswoman for Syncrude, declined to comment on ownership matters.
Debt at ConocoPhillips, the third-largest U.S. oil company, ballooned after Chief Executive Officer Jim Mulva agreed to buy Burlington Resources Inc. in December 2005, the day before gas prices hit a record at $15.78 per million British thermal units. The deal closed for a purchase price of $36 billion in 2006.
Mulva said in March that he expects half of the company’s planned $10 billion in asset sales this year. ConocoPhillips has said the sale of its Syncrude stake may occur in the third quarter.
ConocoPhillips rose 54 cents to $55.86 at 9:51 a.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. Sinopec dropped $1.18, or 1.4 percent, to $84.68.
Exxon Mobil Corp., based in Irving, Texas, and Chevron Corp., based in San Ramon, California, are the largest U.S. oil companies.
