Sinopec's refineries suffer huge losses due to high crude oil price

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec)<600028><386>, the nation's largest oil refiner, is experiencing extremely huge pressures amid surging global crude oil prices and tight domestic price controls, said Cao Xianghong, chief engineer at Sinopec.

Earlier reports said the Chinese government will provide financial subsidy to offset Sinopec's losses from processing crude oil into fuels. But Cao said a government subsidy would not be enough to make up for the huge losses.

Sinopec is the fourth-worst performing of the 43 Chinese companied listed in Hong Kong, as the Beijing-based company is believed to suffer a loss in 2007. The company's earning report has not come out yet.

Sinopec's shares plunged 5.29% to HK$8.05 yesterday in Hong Kong. And its Shanghai-traded shares also posted a decrease of 4.82% to RMB 16.