China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec, Asia's largest refiner, plans to increase diesel exports in the wake of a 30 percent decline in domestic diesel demand in January.

Its parent, Sinopec Group, announced Tuesday that sales of refined oil products fell 16.6 percent, by 2.71 million tons, in January.

China, whose economy grew at its weakest pace since 2001 in the last quarter, said demand for gasoline and diesel may decline in the first half of 2009 because of the global financial crisis.

Weak domestic demand encouraged China's largest oil product producers, China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec Group, to boost diesel exports to get rid of excess inventory. CNPC and Sinopec Group exported 50,000 tons and 120,000 tons of diesel in January, respectively.

Sinopec and CNPC suspended the export of refined oil products last June to satisfy the demands of the domestic market.

Sinopec also said on Tuesday that gasoline is in short supply, as sales increased 8.4 percent in January.

(China Daily March 4, 2009)