Sinopec cuts 97 GON wholesale price in S.China

Sinopec, China's largest oil products provider, has scaled down its 97 GON gasoline wholesale price by 196 yuan per ton in eastern part of Guangdong province and by 226 yuan per ton in Maoming, also in Guangdong, since August 29.

As for the sudden price drop, experts hold different opinions.

"On the one hand the lower international oil price lessens Sinopec's cost pressure, and on the other hand Sinopec may hope to grab back more market shares from PetroChina since Sinopec has offered a higher 97 GON price on the Guangdong market, " said Han Xiaoping, CEO of well-known oil website www.5e.com., in an interview with InfoChina.

After the price cut, Sinopec's 97 GON price unanimously lowers to 6,404 yuan/ton in the above two regions but other cites in Guangdong like Guangzhou and Dongguan are still charged with a relatively high price at 6,600-6,630 yuan/ton.

97 GON wholesale price offered by PetroChina has kept flat, at 6,371 yuan/ton.

Li Yi, chief editor with www.oilboss.cn, held differently by saying that Sinopec's price cut was just a promotion activity aiming at digesting its monthly stockpiles.

But some analysts attributed the price cut to the feeble demand for high-standard gasoline on the Guangdong market when impacted by more output of non-standard gasoline from social refineries.

Market analysts generally believe that oil products wholesale price will hover at the present price in the short period, and with the seasonal peak in September and October drawing closer, the wholesale price may go up mildly.