Meanwhile, Sinopec may expand five refineries along the Yangtze River. The Beijing-based oil and gas producer is studying a plan to expand plants at Anqing, Changling, Baling, Jingmen and Wuhan.

Sinopec processed 155.6 million tons of crude in 2007, about 3.13 million barrels a day - an increase of 6.3 percent from a year earlier, the company said in a statement.

China refined 326.79 million tons of crude oil in 2007, an increase of 6.4 percent, according to the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association.

The association said China produced 186.7 million tons of crude oil in 2007, up 1.6 percent from 2006.

The country's net import of crude oil was 159.28 million tons last year, an increase of 14.7 percent.

The diesel shortage in the second half of 2007 led to a sharp rise in diesel imports. China imported 1.62 million tons of diesel in 2007, up 130.1 percent year-on-year, while the export volume dropped 14.9 percent to 660,000 tons.

(China Daily March 4, 2008)