HONG KONG: Sinopec, Asia’s biggest refiner, said it will push ahead this year with a government-driven agenda to open up state-controlled industries, as China’s energy companies search for private capital.

The company and domestic peer PetroChina are seeking private investors for some units. Sinopec, officially known as China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., will sell as much as 30 percent of its oil retail business, in a sale Barclays estimates could raise more than $20 billion. PetroChina and its parent, China National Petroleum, are considering opening up areas including pipelines, oil and gas exploration and refining to private capital.

“In 2014, the company expects to make significant advances in its development by fully embracing reform, leading to corporate transformation, organizational vigor and stronger corporate values,” Sinopec Chairman Fu Chengyu said Sunday in a statement.

The Beijing-based company Sunday reported 2013 net income rose 3.4 percent to 66.1 billion yuan ($10.6 billion), missing the 67.8 billion yuan mean of 12 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

“Sinopec is the most tied to the Chinese economy of the major oil companies and the economy might be grinding a bit slower this year,” said Simon Powell, head of oil and gas research as CLSA. “All the talk of reform is great, restructuring the marketing business is great, but the bottom line is ultimately driven by the domestic economy.”

The refiner said oil and natural gas production rose 3.5 percent to 442.8 million barrels of oil equivalent last year. Gas output increased 10 percent on 2012 levels. Sinopec forecast production of 363.8 million barrels of crude oil in 2014 and 706.2 billion cubic feet of natural gas.

China is pushing the most aggressive reforms in more than a decade as President Xi Jinping works to increase market forces in the economy. The nation set a 7.5 percent target for growth in 2014, matching last year’s goal, Premier Li Keqiang told the annual legislature meeting in Beijing this month. China’s economy actually grew 7.7 percent in 2013.

Sinopec approved last month the plan to seek private investors for its oil retail unit, which operates the nation’s largest network of more than 30,000 fuel stations.