China quake hits gas output, oil impact mininal

BEIJING (Reuters) – A powerful earthquake that hit southwest China on Monday has shut in some 3 percent of China’s gas output, but the impact on oil demand is marginal due to the loss of power, companies said on Wednesday.

Quake-striken Sichuan, largely a rural province that accounts for 4 percent of China’s economy, is a major gas producer and user accounting for more than 20 percent of China’s total, but a small oil consumer.


CNPC, parent of PetroChina (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research), the dominant energy supplier in southwest China, delivered an additional 100,000 tonnes of refined oil products to Sichuan, the firm said in its in-house newspaper China Petroleum Daily.

State media has said some 60 diesel generators have been dispatched to the worst-hit regions where power has been cut.

But as only 4 gigawatts of power supply — less than one percent of China’s total power market — was initially hit and later partially restored, industry officials said incremental demand for diesel will be small.

Reuters