Recently, government approval to invest in Nippon Oil Corp.'s Osaka refinery was obtained by the state-owned PetroChina Co., thus marking the nearing of another overseas refinery stake acquisition.

On Friday, it was revealed by the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planner, that it had passed the approval; however, it gave no further details.

Last month saw PetroChina, which is expanding its presence in overseas refining from its core business in oil and gas production, finishing the purchase of a 45.51% stake in Singapore Petroleum Co. for $1 billion.

It should be noted that a 50% interest is owned by Singapore Petroleum in Singapore Refining Co., which owns a 285,000 barrel-a-day refinery, and is one of three major oil refiners in Singapore.

Furthermore, talks are also being held between PetroChina and U. K. chemicals firm Ineos PLC on investing in a giant oil refinery in Scotland. This move could mark the Chinese company's first venture into European refining, reported a well known newspaper last month.

It was put forward by Nippon Oil in February that it hoped to set up a JV with PetroChina, in order to operate the 115,000-barrel-a-day refinery sometime after June, mainly targeting oil demand in China.

Both PetroChina's parent China National Petroleum Corp. and Nippon Oil said previously that Nippon Oil would hold a 51% stake and PetroChina 49%.

Due to better energy efficiency and diversification of energy sources, decreasing oil demand in the domestic market is being faced by the Japanese refiners.