By Winnie Zhu
Jan. 18 (Bloomberg) — Royal Dutch Shell Plc said it has agreed with a privately owned Chinese company to build retail service stations in southwestern China to tap rising demand for auto fuels in the world’s second-biggest car market.
Shell will team up with Chongqing Shuorun Petroleum Co Ltd. to build a network of service stations in Chongqing province, Liu Xiaowei, a spokeswoman for Shell in Beijing, said by telephone today.
Europe’s largest oil company by market value is competing with rivals including BP Plc and China’s two biggest oil companies for market share in the retailing of diesel and gasoline. China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. run more than half of the country’s 80,000 retail stations.
“This is a part of our strategy to expand business in the huge Chinese market,” Liu said. “We have just finished negotiations and have applied for a license,” Liu said. She didn’t provide further details, including how many stations Shell and its partner plan to set up.
Shell, which has 40 filling stations in China as of 2000, agreed in 2004 to set up a joint venture with China Petrochemical, the nation’s largest refiner, to build a network of about 500 gas stations in the eastern province of Jiangsu, according to data from its Web site.
China is opening up its oil sales market to foreign and privately owned domestic companies under its World Trade Organization obligations. Overseas companies that own a refinery or hold an import license will be allowed to sell oil products in the country from Jan. 1, 2007, China’s commerce ministry said in a statement on its Web site on Dec. 7.
Lubricant Market
Shell last year bought a 75 percent stake each in the nation’s two leading lube oil producers, giving it a potential 9.5 percent share of China’s lubricant market, the world’s second-largest, the company said September. 22. Shell bought stakes in Beijing Tongyi Petroleum Chemical Co. and Xianyang Tongyi Petroleum Chemical Co.
China’s 2007 oil demand will rise 5.4 percent to 7.35 million barrels a day, the International Energy Agency said in a Dec. 13 forecast, an increase from an estimated 6.98 million barrels a day in 2006.
The country’s vehicle sales rose 25 percent last year to 22 million units, surpassing Japan as the world’s second-largest automobile market, according to data from the China Association of Automobile manufacturers.
To contact the reporter of this story: Winnie Zhu in Shanghai at [email protected]
Last Updated: January 18, 2007 06:50 EST
Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
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A head-cut image of Alfred Donovan (now deceased) appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal.
