PetroChina and Sinopec, China's two biggest oil companies, may continue to cut gasoline exports in September following a huge reduction in August, the China Securities Journal reported last Friday.

The two oil giants may even halt gasoline exports next month, the newspaper cited an anonymous market source as saying.

The two firms took the action in response to the call of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planning agency, made early this month to strictly control refined oil exports and maintain price stability.

The combined refined oil exports of the two companies fell below 100,000 tons in August, but the cuts would have little impact on their profits, considering their monthly output of almost 4 million tons, the newspaper quoted an unnamed international oil dealer and domestic securities analyst as saying.

International oil prices have crept upward since June, at one stage breaking the US$78 a barrel mark, according to the NDRC.

The high prices have strained domestic supplies as many small local refineries suspended production to avoid losses and China also relied nearly half of its oil consumption on imports.

An official with the NRDC said it had ordered the two giants to refine oil at full capacity and keep a reasonable gap between wholesale and retail prices to maintain price stability.

Analysts said the government took the action amid worries that any hikes in refined oil prices would further push up the already high inflation triggered mainly by food price rises.

China's consumer price index, the main gauge of inflation, hit 5.6 percent in July, almost double the government target of 3 percent for the whole of 2007.

(Xinhua News Agency September 3, 2007)