("Sinopec: Signed Preliminary Cooperation Agreement With Saudi Aramco," at 0820 GMT, misstated the name of one of the companies in the first paragraph. The correct version follows:)

BEIJING -(Dow Jones)- Saudi Arabian Oil Co. and China Petrochemical Corp., or Sinopec Group, signed a preliminary agreement on Monday to cooperate in a wide range of areas, including oil exploration and development, refining and petrochemicals, Sinopec said Tuesday on its website.

Saudi Aramco Chief Executive Khalid al-Falih and Sinopec Chairman Fu Chengyu were present to sign the memorandum of understanding in Beijing, Sinopec said.

The agreement also covers cooperation in oil product sales, crude oil trading and engineering, Sinopec said.

Earlier this year, Saudi Aramco and Sinopec signed a deal to develop a 400,000-barrel-a-day refinery at Yanbu on the Saudi Red Sea coast. It isn't clear whether the preliminary agreement announced Tuesday is related to that refinery deal.

Saudi Aramco exports about 240,000 barrels a day of crude oil to a Sinopec-operated joint venture refinery in southern China's Fujian province. Saudi Aramco has a stake of nearly 25% in that refinery.

-By Wayne Ma, Dow Jones Newswires; +86 10 8400 7714; wayne.ma@dowjones.com