China's leaders are facing renewed pressure over shortfalls in diesel and gasoline, with lines growing at filling stations in major cities yesterday as the gap widens between international crude oil values and centrally controlled fuel prices.
The shortages, first reported in southern and inland China, appeared to be spreading to the wealthier coastal areas as filling stations struggled to get shipments from refiners. Four stations contacted yesterday in Shanghai said their daily diesel shipments had not yet arrived.
"You could try your luck later in the day. Now, we have no diesel available at all," said a staffer at a filling station in the city's eastern Pudong district.
"I can't promise you anything, though, for once it comes, it will soon run out," the attendant said.
Workers at another filling station said that they were on duty round the clock, waiting for diesel shipments.
Authorities downplayed the shortages and urged drivers to remain calm and not hoard fuel.
Shanghai has enough diesel to last more than 10 days, the city's Economic Commission said in a statement seen yesterday on its Web site.
"Prices are set by the government, so consumers should not panic over fears of surging prices or try to stockpile fuel," it said.
It appealed to city residents to "show understanding regarding the temporary shortages and to please preserve traffic order around filling stations" -- alluding to troubles with frustrated drivers unable to fill their tanks.
Shortages in the second half of last year briefly affected Shanghai and other major cities. But those shortfalls disappeared after the government ordered oil companies to ensure supplies, and then raised fuel prices by about 10 percent.
Now, with inflation at its highest in a dozen years, China's economic planners are resisting pressure from refiners for price hikes.
The consumer price index was up 8.7 percent last month over a year earlier, prompting Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) to vow more controls to rein in inflation.
China supplied its own energy for decades from domestic oil fields but became a net importer in the 1990s as its economy boomed. Imports, which now supply nearly half of demand, rose 12.3 percent last year to 1.1 billion barrels.
With crude oil prices at over US$100 a barrel, independent refiners have cut back or stopped production. Major state-owned suppliers Sinopec (中石化) and PetroChina (中石油), ordered by the government to ensure supplies to major cities and key sectors such as farming and public transport, were limiting sales to independent gas stations in some regions, state media reports said.
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