Chinese refiners get some relief from price rise
China raised retail fuel prices in March by the most in almost three years in a move that will help refiners cut heavy losses but is unlikely to slow the country’s rapidly rising demand
China’s state-owned oil companies reported record revenues in 2011 on the back of rising global oil prices, highlighting their expanding financial firepower. Though high crude prices drove profits in the upstream, Sinopec and PetroChina lost a combined RMB97.7 billion ($15.5bn) in their domestic refining businesses because of low, state-set prices for gasoline and diesel. Beijing kept the retail fuels at artificially low prices for much of last year in a bid to cool inflation, a system that in effect forced PetroChina and Sinopec to run their refineries at a loss. PetroChina reported refining losses of RMB60.1bn, and net profit of RMB133bn last year, down 5% from the previous year. Sinopec r
Also in this section
5 March 2026
Gas is a central pillar of Colombia’s energy system, but declining production poses a significant challenge, and LNG will be increasingly needed as a stopgap. A recent major offshore gas discovery offers hope, but policy improvements are also required, Camilo Morales, secretary general of Naturgas, the Colombian gas association, tells Petroleum Economist
4 March 2026
The continent’s inventories were already depleted before conflict erupted in the Middle East, causing prices to spike ahead of the crucial summer refilling season
4 March 2026
The US president has repeatedly promised to lower gasoline prices, but this ambition conflicts with his parallel aim to increase drilling and could be upended by his war against Iran
4 March 2026
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively closed following US-Israel strikes and Iran’s retaliatory escalation, Fujairah has become the region’s critical pressure release valve—and is now under serious threat
