Petro China to keep diesel imports steady

PetroChina was importing 100,000 tons of diesel for December, the same volume as in November,

traders said.

"They are importing three cargoes of term gas oil. It looks like they are not buying any spot cargoes," said a trader, adding each cargo of 0.2 percent sulphur material is about 33,000 tons.

PetroChina's diesel imports had been steady through the second half of this year after it sealed long-term deals with South Korea's SK Corp., Japan's Nippon Oil and Taiwan's Chinese Petroleum Corp. (CPC), traders said.

The term gas oil contracts with Nippon and SK Corp. started from July this year and would last until June 2005, they said.

The 12-month agreement with CPC expired in December, traders said. Talks on renewing it are due to begin soon.

PetroChina is the country's second-biggest gas oil importer behind Sinopec Corp., whose volumes fluctuate more widely as it buys primarily from the spot market. State trader Sinochem ranks third.

On the whole, Chinese diesel imports for November were forecast to hit a six-year high at more than 450,000 tons as China avoids a repeat of last year's supply squeeze, which forced hundreds of petrol stations to ration supplies.

Traders were less upbeat about December imports. "China is importing a lot of gas oil this month. Some of the late November cargoes could spill over to December, so fresh import needs for the first decade of December may not be that strong," a trader from Beijing said.

Official customs data shows that gas oil imports soared 173 percent to 1.84 million tons in the first 10 months this year.

Source: Shenzhen Daily