PetroChina and Sinopec post heavy refining losses in first half

PetroChina and Sinopec, China's two largest oil companies, suffered a combined refining loss of yuan 5.71 bn ($ 837.24 mm) in the first half of 2008 as soaring world crude prices added to their production costs.
The loss was 47.9 % higher than the same period last year, Feng Shiliang, China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association deputy secretary general, was quoted as saying.

The country's oil companies have been losing money for each barrel of foreign oil they refined and sold to domestic consumers as they could not pass along the increase under the government-set refined oil prices, market analysts said.
World crude prices had surged more than 50 % since November and now hovered around $ 130 per barrel. They would likely remain at high levels in the second half, between $ 140-150 per barrel, which meant another increase in domestic refined oil prices was possible, Feng said.

The government raised the benchmark gasoline and diesel oil retail prices to yuan 6,980 and yuan 6,520 per ton in June, up more than 16 % and 18 %, respectively.
The price increase was helpful but far from eliminating losses, said Sinopec. It said that its first-half net profit would decline by more than 50 % because of the widening gap between the government-set prices of oil products and rocketing global crude prices.