Diesel Shortage * China - Eases in Eastern China as Plants Boost Supply

A diesel supply shortage in eastern China has eased after state refiners produced at full capacity and ramped up imports... 

Beijing,China -Bloomberg/Businessweek, by Winnie Zhu & Ryan Woo/Alexander Kwiatkowski -December 9, 2010: ...  the chairman of the biggest oil- processing plant in Jiangsu province said... The shortfall has “basically” abated in the eastern province, Zhang Dafu, chairman of China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.’s Jinling refinery, said in a telephone interview yesterday. There are no longer queues at gas stations in Nanjing, the provincial capital, he said... The nation’s largest refiners, PetroChina Co. and China Petroleum, known as Sinopec, boosted oil processing to a record last month and resumed imports of the fuel for trucks and power generators as the nation battled a diesel shortage that depleted at least 2,000 gas stations...  The surge in diesel demand will subside by February, JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a note last week. China will become a net importer in December before returning to be an exporter next year, the bank said... The 13.5 million ton-a-year Jinling refinery will shut a 3 million ton-a-year crude distillation unit and a 1.2 million ton-a-year hydrocracker from Dec. 20 to Jan. 14 for scheduled maintenance, Zhang said...