China Petrochemical Corp, the nation's largest oil refiner, will supply 37.5 percent more diesel this month to power farm tractors and ploughs to avoid last year's fuel shortage during the summer crop-planting season.

Sinopec Group, as China Petrochemical is known, will boost its supply of the fuel to 2.5 million tons this month, the Beijing-based company said in its online newsletter Sinopecnews. Sinopec will in June boost diesel supplies to Hebei Province by 58 percent, Shandong Province by 51 percent and Shanxi Province by 78.5 percent, according to the statement.

(Shanghai Daily June 20, 2008)