Shanghai Daily: Business - shanghaidaily.com
CHINA has ordered its two largest oil companies to run their refineries at full capacity in a further move to address a fuel shortage. The National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Finance have asked Sinopec Group and China National Petroleum Corp to fulfill their social responsibility to ensure market supply of refined oil products, the commission said in a statement posted on its Website yesterday. The two "must run their facilities at full swing," said the commission, China's top planning body. It also told the two state firms to fully utilize the refining capacity of private oil firms to boost supply. Sinopec and CNPC have been cooperating with local private refiners in Liaoning, Shandong and Sichuan provinces by providing crude oil to them and then buying back refined products under government coordination, the commission said earlier this week. The two companies have also been told to adjust production by making more diesel and less oil