According to a Sinopec spokesperson, “The four-year deal will commit Yukos to transport 4.25 million tons a year of crude to [our] refineries in the north of China via railway, with the bulk of the crude to be allocated to Sinopec’s unit, Yanshan Petrochemical Corp.”

“Based on the contract, the first batch of Yukos oil will arrive at Yanshan in May,” added the unidentified official, who confirmed Sinopec had upgraded Yanshan’s refining units to unable the processing of Russian crude.

This agreement is the second such deal signed between the two firms this year and comes at a time when the Sinopec unit has been forced to shift to Russian crude following major production decline from China’s Daqing field.