China oil giants to hike prices

China’s two oil giants, the China National Petroleum Corp. (CNPC) and the China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. (Sinopec Group) will raise the price of base oil. CNPC, parent of PetroChina, will raise its base oil price by 200-300 yuan (US$29-US$43) per metric ton at the end of May and the Sinopec Group, the parent company of Sinopec Corp., will increase its price by 370-600 yuan (US$54-US$87) per ton. The refinery prices of their affiliated plants will be raised accordingly. The pending oil price hikes from CNPC and the Sinopec Group comes as a result of rising global oil prices, short supply of feedstock at refineries, domestic oil product price hikes, as well as market speculation. (May 10, 2010)