China's Gasoline Consumption to Increase 24% by 2010

[jpak]

http://www.resourceinvestor.com/pebble.asp?relid=30073

SHANGHAI (Interfax-China) -- China's gasoline consumption, spurred by a soaring demand for cars in the world's fastest growing economy, will reach 65.44 million tonnes by 2010, which is a 24.7% increase from 2006, an official from a state industrial planning organization said during an oil trade summit held in Guangzhou.

The country's use of gasoline reached 52.47 million tonnes last year, an 8.4% year-on-year growth, after the year's car sales jumped 27% to hit 7.2 million. The forecast for this year's growth is 18%, according to Bai Xuesong, senior engineer with China International Chemical Consulting Corp., which is overseen by the state-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission.

China produced 55.91 million tonnes of gasoline last year. Its largest producers include fourth-largest state oil company Shaanxi Yanchang Oil Group, which is also part of a conglomerate of Shaanxi's major local oil drilling and refining plants, Dalian Petrochemical, under the country's top oil company China National Petroleum Corp., and Zhenhai Refinery of Zhejiang province, which operates under China Petroleum and Chemical Corp., Asia's largest refiner.

The country's gasoline exports fell 37.7% to 3.5 million tonnes last year. The decrease occurred because soaring international crude prices, combined with the government's artificial control of oil product prices, made refining a money-losing business.

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[AndyA]

1. China: World's fastest growing economy. Due in large part to American shoppers!

Keep shopping at Wal-Mart, America.

Gas prices here will keep going up, up, up, so the money you save at Wal-Mart will be spent filling up your gas tank, plus some.

But that's OK, as long as you can continue to cart home lots of cheap crap to decorate your house.

A friend checked grocery prices, and found that Wal-Mart really didn't save them much money, if any at all. Wal-Mart was higher on some items, and lower on some. The quality of meat and produce was inferior at the Wal-Mart compared to a locally-owned store, and prices were comparable.

They said getting in and out of Wal-Mart was more of a hassle, and took longer than going to the other store. So, they decided to shop at the other store, since their time is worth something as well.