China’s crude oil imports from Iran up: Report

Source: Islamic Republic News Agency

 China's crude oil imports from Iran have amounted to 28 million tons in 2011, which marks a 30-percent growth compared to the same period last year.

The figure shows China traded in nearly 557,000 barrels of oil from Iran on a daily basis last year, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Customs data showed that China's full-year crude imports totaled 253.78 million tons, up by 6.1 percent in 2011.

China's overall crude imports for December 2011 stood at 21.92 million tons, up 5.1 percent in comparison with the same period in the previous year.

Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao said on January 19 that his country would continue oil trade with Iran in defiance of proposed US and European sanctions which aim to stop Iran's oil exports.

'China's oil trade with Iran is a normal commercial activity,' he added.

China's prime minister said, 'I believe that China is not the only country to buy oil from Iran... Legitimate trade has to be protected if global economic chaos is to be avoided.'

China's rapid growth in recent years has seen a surge in demand for oil in the country.

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Research and Markets: Leading North American Convenience Stores, Neighborhood Stores and Gas Stations – Company Benchmarking Analysis Report 2012

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6e4c6d/leading_north_amer) has announced the addition of Canadean Ltd's new report "Leading North American Convenience Stores, Neighborhood Stores and Gas Stations - Company Benchmarking Analysis Report" to their offering.

“Leading North American Convenience Stores, Neighborhood Stores and Gas Stations - Company Benchmarking Analysis Report”

This report contains a competitive company benchmarking analysis based on key financial and operating parameters and ratios of a select peer group of companies, compared to one another and to overall global averages for their retail channel. The analysis highlights the companies that are performing the best among the peer group, and in which areas, and therefore clarifies leading performance standards and the strengths and weaknesses of companies covered.

Canadean's North American Convenience Stores, Neighborhood Stores and Gas Stations - Company Benchmarking Analysis Report' compares the strength of the leading convenience stores, neighborhood stores and gas stations in North America relative to each other and international averages for retailers in the convenience stores, neighborhood stores and gas stations channel.

Key Highlights:

Couche-Tard was the strongest performer of the leading convenience stores, neighborhood stores and gas stations in North America. The company's strong performance was driven by the high scores it received for scale and growth pillar. However, the company's performance was poor under other pillars. Casey's General Stores and Susser were the strongest performers under the operational efficiency pillar. However, their performance was weaker than the convenience stores, neighborhood stores and gas stations channel under scale and growth pillar. The Pantry was the weakest performer of the leading convenience stores, neighborhood stores and gas stations in North America. The company's poor performance was driven by the weak scores it received for metrics across all the pillars. The North American convenience stores, neighborhood stores and gas stations market is moderately concentrated and has several independent stores or small store chains in addition to large national store chains. In 2010, the top ten convenience stores, neighborhood stores and gas stations had a market share of 51.0%.

Companies Mentioned:

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. The Pantry, Inc. TravelCenters of America LLC Casey's General Stores, Inc. Susser Holdings Corporation

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/6e4c6d/leading_north_amer

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