China's exports of crude and processed oil dropped by 17 percent and 18.3 percent respectively during the first half of this year, the General Administration of Customs said.

From January 1 to June 30, China exported 3 million tons of crude oil and 6.2 million tons of processed oil.

Industry insiders attributed the export decline to the government measures adopted in response to the soaring crude oil price on the world market.

On May 24, 2006, the State Development and Reform Commission, the country's industrial watchdog, raised the prices of gasoline, diesel oil and kerosene for aviation by 500 yuan (62.4 U.S. dollars) per ton, two months after the latest oil price hike this March.

It also asked the two oil suppliers, China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec), to increase the supply of processed oil to meet domestic demands.

Source: Xinhua