Longwei Petroleum (fka LPIH)

[bUrRpPPP!]

BEIJING, June 5 (Reuters) - China's top refineries plan to
raise their crude oil processing in June to record-high levels
after some plants completed maintenance, encouraged by the
recent fuel price increase and falling fuel stocks. China raised diesel and gasoline prices on June 1 by 6-7
percent, the second and biggest increase this year, easing some
pressure off refiners faced with rising crude oil costs. Twelve major plants accounting for more than a third of
China's capacity, most of them on the eastern and southern
seaboards, will process 2.59 million barrels per day (bpd) of
crude in June, up nearly 10 percent from the actual 2.36
million bpd in May, a Reuters poll showed. The level would be the same as the record-high crude runs
in October and represents almost 92 percent of their total
refining capacity.For a history of crude runs by these plants, please click:
hereAnalysts said the prospect for fuel demand, especially
gasoline and diesel, looks rosy given steady increases in
automobile sales and recovering industrial activities, while
the recent fuel price rise provided an additional incentive for
production."Refining margin in June will be better than in May after
the recent price hike," said Qiu Xiaofeng, an analyst with
China Merchants Securities. "But refiners may feel pressured later this month and in
early July if there are no further fuel price increase, because
they are going to process more costly crude oil imported last
month and now." U.S. crude prices CLc1 near $70 a barrel have almost
doubled since end-December, though still 53 percent below the
record highs above $147 in mid-July 2008. But sentiment in the gas oil market in the Singapore oil
hub has improved slightly, with its prompt crack spreads
around
$7.85 a barrel on Friday, versus less than $6.00 for most of
the past two weeks. Sinopec's (0386.HK)(600028.SS) Guangzhou refinery in the
south and Qilu refinery in the east will increase operation
levels sharply this month after completing regular maintenance,
while several others, including PetroChina's
(0857.HK)(601857.SS) Dalian, also plan to step up processing
activity. But some refinery officials warned the preliminary plans
could be revised in coming weeks in line with market changes. "A plan is a plan, we have to watch out what is going to
happen in terms of price and demand for both fuel and
chemicals," an official in a coastal plant said. Fuel stocks held by the two oil giants continue to decline
in April, with diesel inventories at the end of April falling
14 percent from a month ago and gasoline dropping 12 percent.
[ID:nPEK130782]
========================================================
PLANT JUNE RUNS MAY RUNS REFINING CAPACITY (bpd)
=======================================================
Zhenhai 350,400 336,700 400,000
Maoming 287,100 267,700 270,000
Qilu 206,800 155,400 200,000
Gaoqiao 216,600 216,600 230,000
Guangzhou 238,500 141,300 270,000
Jinling 259,000 259,000 270,000
Dalian 292,000 259,000 410,000
Lanzhou 226,000 219,500 200,000
Fujian 73,000 73,000 80,000
Jinzhou 136,300 131,900 140,000
Jinxi 121,700 117,700 150,000
WEPEC 182,500 181,300 200,000
========================================================
TOTAL* 2.59 2.36 2.82
======================================================== *in million bpd.