CNOOC gets govt permission to sell oil products

China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC), the country's third largest oil company, has won oil product wholesale licenses, as the government opens the sector to greater competition.

With the licenses, the Beijing-based CNOOC will be able to sell products to other oil companies. The company is China's leading offshore oil and gas producer but a newcomer to the refining and fuel sales sectors.

Analysts said the new refined oil wholesale licenses would facilitate CNOOC to sell products from its Huizhou refinery in southern Guangdong province and from smaller refineries it had acquired previously.