China's oil refining industry reported a loss of 2.79 billion yuan (US$337 million) in the first five months of 2005, said sources with the PetroChina Company Limited, a listed company of the China National Petroleum Corporation, China's largest oil producer, Tuesday.

Despite the soaring crude oil price in the past two years, China's oil refining enterprises have not shared the high profits of global refineries as the domestic price of oil products has been kept under state control.

According to PetroChina, the average price of gasoline and diesel oil rose by 20 percent year on year in the first five months, whereas the international crude oil price grew by 30 percent.

The gross profits in China's oil refining industry dropped to their lowest point in the last three years as the average producer price for gasoline and diesel oil has been 600 (US$72.6) to 1,000 yuan (US$121) lower per ton than the international price.

For example, the China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec), China's largest oil refinery, is expected to see a basic loss in its oil refining sector in the first half year with the gross profits of oil refining dropping to below three dollars per barrel, said the sources.

(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2005)