Sinopec Group, parent of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec), will halt gasoline and diesel imports as fuel shortage has been solved domestically, an executive from Sinopec told Shanghai Securities News yesterday.
He said that the fuel stockpile now can meet the domestic market demand, so it is not necessary to buy more fuel from other countries. As to when to resume the gasoline and diesel imports, he said it all depends on the market trend.

The executive also made it clear that the ceasing of fuel imports didn’t mean that the company will stop supplying crude oil for small petroleum refineries in China.

Given the stable fuel supply in the recent domestic market, Sinopec Group has cut the crude oil imports, but whether to stop oil imports may depend on the balance of market supply and demand, a source told Shanghai Securities News.

Gasoline and diesel imports were seen at 606,100 tons and 970,000 tons respectively for July in China and the Sinopec took half of the total imports, according to China’s customs data.