The American Society of Transportation and Logistics (AST&L) organized a twenty-eight days training program in the U.S. for a group of twenty-five top international trade managers from nine departments of Sinopec. The International Trade and Logistics Management program lasted from April 16th to May 13th, 2008.

The training program brought the Sinopec group to important international commerce cities of New York, Washington D.C., Chicago, Oklahoma City, Houston and Los Angeles. They had visited four government agencies; the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Oklahoma Department of Commerce, Oil and Resources Management Committee of Oklahoma and Houston City Government. They also visited five associations including American Society of Transportation and Logistics (AST&L) and American Petroleum Institute (API). The group visited CHEVRON, DEVON, CN Rail and four other enterprises. They also visited the port authorities of Port of CATOOSA, Port of Houston and Port of Long Beach in Los Angeles.

AST&L organized the program in such a way to enable the participants to learn from different aspects. Firstly, the group visited related government agencies and famous oil and petrochemical industry associations to understand the commercial policies and regulations of China and U.S. Secondly, they visited famous enterprises to learn advanced management experiences and ideas from multinational companies. Thirdly, we enhanced the students’ understanding of logistics facilities and processes by personally visiting the ports, piers, railway facilities. Fourthly, we invited Mr. Steve Hawks, AST&L’s petrochemical logistics expert, to teach courses related to the management of logistics and supply chain and the transportation of hazardous goods. Furthermore, the Sinopec group spent one day attending the 2008 Off-Shore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston.