By an OGJ Online Correspondent
BEIJING, Aug. 17 -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (Sinopec) has lowered its refinery runs target for 2001 by 2.8% to 105 million tonnes, flat on year, due to high inventories.
By the end of July, Sinopec had 6.5 million tonnes of oil stocks. The high inventory level was attributed to lower demand for products in the first half.
The company is trying to reduce the stocks to the normal level of less than 5 million tonnes by the end of the third quarter.
Sinopec 's runs in the first 6 months were 51.9 million tonnes, or 0.2% higher than a year ago. Its crude production rose by 0.3% on year to 17.35 million tonnes in the first half.
Sinopec will try to increase oil production further in the second half to make up for the lagging refining sector.
The company's first half refinery margin was $3.58/bbl vs. last year's average of $3.70.