China's two leading oil giants have promised to increase production and supplies of refined oil to ease shortages on the domestic market, the government planning agency said Tuesday.
The China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) made the promise at a meeting Monday between their executives and the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
CNPC and Sinopec, China's major refiners, had moved to increase their oil production, NDRC said.
CNPC and Sinopec said they would take more measures to secure stable supply of refined oil on the home market.
They would attempt to improve their processing capacity of crude oil and increase the output of oil products. On the precondition of work safety, some maintenance jobs might be postponed.
The two were urged to increase supplies and strictly restrict exports of diesel oil.
Marketing units of the two giants would speed up transport of oil products, and re-distribute inventories at gas stations more efficiently.
They would stick to government-set oil prices.
The two oil giants would step up prospecting and exploration of oil resources.
In response to recent price hikes on global crude oil markets, the Chinese government raised the prices of gasoline, diesel oil, and aviation kerosene from Nov. 1 to stabilize supplies of oil products at home.