Sinopec, the nation's biggest oil refiner, plans to build two crude oil importing facilities in Tangshan, a city in North China's Hebei Province, involving a total investment of 6 billion yuan (739.8 million U.S. dollars), according to the company.

The project includes two oil berths and various supporting infrastructure facilities including pipelines and oil tanks.

The company has already submitted the proposal to build one berth to the central government, a director surnamed Liu was quoted by Saturday's China Daily as saying.

"We are still not sure when to expect the final approval, but shall be building the two berths one by one," Liu said.

The director said one oil berth and its supporting facilities would cost about 3 billion yuan (369.9 million U.S. dollars), but he added Sinopec has not decided to build the project on its own.

"It is still at a very preliminary phase," he said.

Source: Xinhua