Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner in terms of capacity, announced Wednesday a record corporate bond issue valued at 20 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion) to finance the development of China's largest gas field, Puguang.

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It will be the biggest corporate bond issue in terms of value ever issued by a Chinese company.

A Sinopec statement said the company's shareholders approved the issuance at Tuesday's general meeting. The proceeds would be used to finance the exploration and development of Puguang gas field in southwest China's Sichuan Province.

A total of 356 billion cubic meters of natural gas deposits had been identified in Puguang by the end of 2006, according to the Ministry of Land and Resources.

The statement said the interest rate would be determined according to market conditions at the time the bonds are issued.

The statement said the date of the issue had yet to be decided as the bonds were yet to be approved the National Development and Reform Commission.

According to Chinese law, a company can issue bonds worth no more than 40 percent of its net assets. Last year, the company's equity was valued at 255 billion yuan (US$33 billion).

It has been reported that Sinopec plans to invest 110.1 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in capital investment in 2007. Of this, the oil giant is expected to invest 53 billion yuan (US$6.8 billion) in exploration and production as it builds up its network for shipping natural gas from southwest Sichuan to industrial regions on the eastern coast.

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