(Reuters) -The world’s largest refiner by capacity, Sinopec Group, is in talks to buy the country’s dominant jet fuel distributor, China National Aviation Fuel Group (CNAF) in a government-initiated move, Bloomberg News reported on Monday.
Talks are ongoing, with no set timeline or certainty of a deal, but if completed, Sinopec would take over all of CNAF’s assets and operations, the report said, citing people familiar with the discussions.
Last week, China Aviation Oil (Singapore), CNAF’s Singapore-based unit in charge of importing jet fuel to China, said that its parent company CNAF will be undergoing a corporate restructuring with another conglomerate.
While China’s demand for gasoline and diesel has been shrinking due to fleet electrification and the use of cheaper natural gas in trucks, aviation fuel demand has seen robust growth from passenger and cargo traffic.
A Sinopec spokesperson declined to comment. CNAF did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment after business hours.
Reuters could not immediately confirm the Bloomberg report.
(Reporting by Dagmarah MackosEditing by David Goodman and Louise Heavens)
