China Petroleum and Chemical Corp, better known as Sinopec, doubled its supply of diesel to ease a shortage which happened in two of Shanghai's suburban areas last week.

Sinopec Shanghai Oil Products Co, Sinopec's local subsidiary and the city's main gas distributor, increased its daily supply of the fuel to 5,200 tons from last Sunday.

"My company will take full responsibility to guarantee sufficient diesel supply to local users," said an executive, only identified as Wang, of Sinopec Shanghai Oil Products.

A gas station in Baoshan District, which normally has 2,000 kiloliters of diesel a day stocked, now keeps 10 times that amount.

Baoshan District in the northeast and southwest Jiading District have been suffering from a shortage of diesel since November 12.

The situation is a result of Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces' decision to raise the diesel price late last month, resulting in a price difference between Shanghai and the two provinces.

Container trucks and buses operating between the city and the neighboring provinces would rather refuel in Shanghai.

Diesel is sold at 2.9 yuan (34.9 US cents) per liter in Shanghai, 0.1 yuan per liter lower than the two provinces. But Sinopec Shanghai has no plans to raise the price in the near future, the company officials said.

PetroChina Co's gas stations and many private gas stations suffered a break in their diesel supply last week, which switched pressure to Sinopec's stations, Wang said.

"Sinopec accounts for around 70 percent of the city's refined oil market. Last week, we had to meet all the local demand and even some from elsewhere," said Xue, another Sinopec Shanghai executive.

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