中石化集团以旗下国际石油勘探开发有限公司与康菲公司达成协议，以46亿美元的现金对价收购后者在加拿大Syncrude合资公司中9% 股权。

这是继去年以72.4亿美元收购瑞士Addax石油公司后，中石化海外收购最新举措。

中石化由内部法律部门协助处理收购项目， 同时也聘用了长期律顾问加拿大律所Blakes Cassels & Graydon. 康菲公司也一样有内部法律部门提供咨询，同时聘请Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt 作为
法律代表。　

Sinopec has made its largest ever venture into Canada by acquiring oil-sands producer Syncrude Canada from ConocoPhillips for US$4.65bn, marking the largest Asian oil company investment in Canada's oil sands to date. 

The acquisition was led by Sinopec’s in-house team, headed by general counsel Shao Jingyang. Blake, Cassels & Graydon, one of Sinopec’s long-term legal advisors, was engaged by the acquirer as its sole outside counsel. The firm advised Sinopec on oil & gas, transactional, environmental and competition law. Blake Cassels has had a lengthy history of working with Sinopec, having previously worked with Sinopec with their first foray into Canada – the Northern Lights Project.

Also working on the matter are in-house counsels at ConocoPhillips Canada, including vice president-corporate services Graham Vanhegan and chief counsel and Angela Avery.

The Syncrude acquisition means that Sinopec joins domestic counterpart PetroChina in acquiring stakes in Canadian producers of oil locked in sand. PetroChina won approval from the Canadian government last year to buy a stake in Athabasca Oil Sands Corp’s MacKay and Dover oil-sands projects for US$1.9bn.

Spending by Chinese companies on mining and energy acquisitions reached a record US$32bn last year, Sinopec being one of the major players. Its deal activities have caught they eye of many and have kept many law firms busy over the past 18 months, especially so Vinson & Elkins. Last year, Sinopec turned to Vinson & Elkins for both its US$8bn acquisition of Calgary-based Addax and its US$1.9bn takeover of Toronto-listed Tanganyika.

The deal is expected to close in the third quarter, pending regulatory approvals in both China and Canada.

Sinopec’s in-house team is staffed with 31 legal counsels located in its headquarters and 1,375 counsels in subsidiaries.