China Petroleum & Chemical Corp, known as Sinopec, the biggest oil refiner, sank 9.12 percent to close at 10.27 yuan. PetroChina, the nation's largest oil producer and the biggest stock by market capitalization, fell 3.47 percent to 15 yuan.

Sinopec plans to buy oil field service maintenance assets from its parent for 1.56 billion yuan to boost earnings, it said in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange late yesterday.

Air China, the largest carrier in the country by market value, sank 8.47 percent to 8.11 yuan while China Southern Airlines, the biggest by fleet size, dived 9.47 percent to 6.79 yuan. Shanghai-based China Eastern Airlines shed 9.70 percent to 6.42 yuan.

Air China said it agreed to buy 20 Airbus A330 wide-body planes with a list price of US$3.82 billion to increase flight frequency from its Beijing base.

Crude oil futures shot above US$140 yesterday after OPEC's president said crude prices could rise well above US$150 a barrel this year.

Light, sweet crude crossed the US$140 level minutes before the New York Mercantile Exchange closed yesterday, then retreated slightly to post a gain of US$5.09 and a record close of US$139.64. In after-hours electronic trading, prices rose as high as US$140.39. In London, August Brent crude futures increased US$5.50 to settle at US$139.83 on the ICE Futures Exchange.

Elsewhere, FAW Car Co, the Chinese partner of Mazda Motor Corp, sank 9.95 percent to 8.42 yuan. The company will sell about 160 million yuan worth of cars to the export and import unit of its parent company China FAW Group Corp, it said in a statement to Shenzhen Stock Exchange today.

Jiangling Motors Corp, Ford Motor Co's Chinese commercial vehicle partner, said it received a government subsidy of 164 million yuan and will include it in its earnings, it said in a statement to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange today. The stock lost 9.95 percent to 9.14 yuan.

(Shanghai Daily June 27, 2008)