A Hong Kong-listed subsidiary of China Petrochemical Corp, or Sinopec Group, on Monday agreed to buy a 50 percent stake in a European liquid bulk storage and terminal operator.

Sinopec's subsidiary will form a new international joint venture in liquid bulk storage with Vesta Terminals BV, a wholly owned asset of Mercuria Energy Group Ltd, said a statement released by Mercuria.

The joint venture will operate further expansions of Vesta Terminals' existing sites and other projects, the statement said.

Vesta Terminals is an independent liquid bulk storage operator with about 1.6 million cubic meters of petroleum products and biofuels capacity at three terminals in the Netherlands, Estonia and Belgium.

gaoyuan@chinadaily.com.cn