SK, Sinochem may build joint China facility-report

SEOUL, Nov 11 (Reuters) South Korea's top oil refiner, SK Corp. , may form a joint venture with Chinese state oil trader Sinochem Corp. to build a naphtha cracking facility in China, Yonhap news said on Saturday.

''We have sought a variety of cooperations with Sinochem and, as part of them, we are considering an NCC (naphtha cracking centre),'' the report quoted the company as saying, without elaborating.

An SK spokeswoman said, however, that the company has been in talks with several Chinese refiners to expand operations in China, but no decision had been made.

Sinochem is China's No.4 oil company, trailing PetroChina , Sinopec Corp. and CNOOC Ltd. .

Separately, SK Incheon Oil, a refining unit of SK Corp., will buy 167 gas stations and seven charging stations from its parent for 630 billion won (4.7 million) in November 2011 to bolster its weak domestic networks, Yonhap added.

The spokeswoman said nothing had been finalised on the sale.

SK Incheon plans a London IPO next month that could fetch up to 0 million, sources said on Thursday.

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