PetroChina has made plans for gasoil imports in the third quarter of 2011, but the volume and specific schedules are not known yet, according to a source with one of PetroChina's sales companies.
Such plans indicate PetroChina's intent to ensure sufficient gasoil supply in the domestic market this quarter, as domestic output may drop notably amid lots of maintenance. In addition, the company has not used up its import quotas for the first and second quarters, and import costs have declined significantly after import tariffs were reduced as from Jul 1.
PetroChina has shipped some gasoil from the joint venture between it and a Japanese company to East China and put these resources in a bonded tank farm in Yangshan, Shanghai, C1 learned from an international trading source. These resources have remained in the bonded tank farm since domestic demand has not grown as expected, but they can still be supplied to the domestic market once supply becomes short.
However, it is also possible for PetroChina to re-report these resources.
Sinopec Hong Kong has bought 720,000bl of gasoil from Taiwan Formosa Petrochemical for loading in Mailiao in Aug 4-8, with the price at US$0.6/bbl over the mean price in Singapore, said an international trader.
