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BEIJING: China’s economic planning department on Thursday
dismissed as a “groundless rumor” reports saying the country
might liberalize the prices of refined oil and natural gas soon.
“Those reports and allegations that the
government might liberalize oil and gas prices in advance, in June
at the earliest, are groundless,” an anonymous official with the
National Development and Reform Commission told Xinhua.
Thursday’s Shanghai Securities News also ruled
out the possibility that China will end its grip on prices in the
near future.
According to the newspaper, there were news
reports on Wednesday alleging that the commission, the National
Energy Bureau and the country’s two largest energy companies,
namely PetroChina and Sinopec, were in the final stage of their
discussions about the liberalization of the fuel prices.
These reports claimed that the authorities would
probably end price control on oil and gas in June, instead of the
originally planned August.
These reports had helped boost the share prices
of PetroChina and Sinopec at the Shanghai stock market on Wednesday
afternoon.
The two stocks gained 9.99 percent and 6.63
percent respectively at the close.
The Shanghai Securities News, citing an official
source, dismissed such reports, saying that it was impossible to
liberalize oil and gas prices when China was in a critical period of
earthquake relief and post-quake reconstruction.
The source said there were several reasons for
why the government will not end its grip on oil and gas prices, such
as the need to guarantee energy security in post-quake
reconstruction and curbing inflation at a time of quake relief and
reconstruction.
Another source with the National Development and
Reform Commission told the newspaper that the government will
absolutely take a risk to liberalize fuel prices in the near future
as China needs to reconstruct quake-hit regions under heavy
inflation pressure.
In addition, neither PetroChina nor Sinopec said
on Wednesday that it had received any notice on the liberalization
of oil and gas prices.
Over the last year or so, China has been faced
with mounting pressure on inflation.
China’s consumer price index, the main gauge
of inflation, has risen from above 3 percent in March last year, to
above 6 percent in August, and to 8.5 percent year on year last
month, as a result of the robust national economy and domestic food
price rises coupled with soaring international energy prices.
Also on Wednesday, crude oil prices shattered
record highs and soared above $133 a barrel after a report showed an
unexpected drop in the US crude stockpiles. (See related story on
front page.)
Light, sweet crude for July delivery rose $4.19
to settle at $133.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange,
trading up $4.19, the largest one-day price advance since March 26.
-- Xinhua
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