Domestic gasoil retail supply stayed short in late December, particularly in southern provinces as state-owned oil majors kept rationing wholesale, C1 research showed.
Among about 300 private petrol stations and 350 petrol stations under PetroChina and Sinopec involved in C1's research last week, around 55% of the private petrol stations and 74% of the major ones could guarantee normal gasoil supply. The number of private petrol stations that could guarantee normal gasoil supply was up by 1 percentage point week on week, while that of petrol stations under PetroChina and Sinopec was unchanged.
The other petrol stations rationed or suspended gasoil supply, with about 20% of the private stations still selling gasoil above the retail ceiling.
Gasoil supply remained quite tight in central, south and southwest China, but supply was already relatively abundant in northern China where demand from infrastructure construction, mining and transportation had dropped notably.
Supply shortages in east China have softened as demand is falling with the temperature. Some petrol stations in this region already switched to the sales of gasoil with negative pour points.
