France's Total has acquired more than 20 private gas stations in Northeast China's Liaoning Province, as well as a number of oil wholesalers, according to Beijing Business Today.

The purchase was confirmed by the head of the oil distribution section of China General Chamber of Commerce, Zhao Youshan, at a private oil company conference yesterday.

"The private oil firms are hard to survive due to the lack of oil products supply," said Zhao.

In the northeastern region, some domestic oil enterprises from east China's Fujian Province are also involved in the purchase of private oil distribution enterprises excluding the multi-national oil giants such as Total, said the report.

In June of this year, 80 private oil companies announced their intention to sell up to a group of international oil majors including Shell, BP and Mobil, but the deal was blocked by the national economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission.

The purchase is driven by the development of domestic oil distribution market, said Han Xiaoping, CIO from http://www.china5e.com, and he predicted more small private oil firms would be purchased by domestic and foreign oil giants.

(Chinadaily.com.cn September 3, 2007)