The earthquake damaged many Petrochina installations in the quake region but did not cause fundamental damage to operations, said company president Jiang Jiemin on Thursday.

Jiang said production at a natural gas well with a capacity of 6 million cubic meters per day was halted, but it is now producing 2 million cubic meters per day.

Jiang said 728 PetroChina gas stations were partly damaged during the earthquake, and 78 of them stopped operation.

Out of 76 PetroChina drilling rigs in the quake region, only 16 are still in operation.

No death of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) employees has been reported so far, but 56 were injured and six are still missing.

The earthquake has thrown some uncertainty to PetroChina's planning refinery in Pengzhou city of Sichuan, said Jiang Jiemin.

According to the president, a group of professionals has been organized to make further study on the feasibility of the project.

"We will make sure that the project is safe and environmentally-friendly enough before making final decision," said Jiang.

The refinery, with a planned oil refining capacity of 10 million tons and ethylene production capacity of 800 thousand tons, is planned to be one of the largest oil refining projects in China.

Pipeline transmitting refined oil products from Lanzhou to Chengdu and Chongqing cities, both in the earthquake-hit region, has been restored to 600 cubic meters per hour.

PetroChina is taking measures to restore the capacity to the normal level of 850 cubic meters per hour, said Jiang.

A press release from China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the parent company of PetroChina, said Thursday that a refinery of PetroChina in Nanchong city of Sichuan, restarted production in early morning on Thursday. Operation of the refinery was halted on Monday when the huge earthquake broke out.

The crude oil pipeline from Urumqi, capital of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, to Lanzhou, capital of Gansu Province, is in normal operation, said Jiang.

Jiang said PetroChina, the listed subsidiary of CNPC, has full ability to ensure oil supply in the second quarter, despite transportation difficulties and growing demand caused by the earthquake.

Wen Mingyou, vice general manager and spokesman of PetroChina's Sichuan branch echoed Jiang's view, saying the company has launched an emergency response plan, and will make all-out efforts to ensure oil supply in quake-hit areas.

PetroChina is to send 100,000 tons of oil products to Sichuan Province via railway, road and waterway after the earthquake.

PetroChina imported 1.5 million tons of diesel and gasoline in the first quarter and is expected to import another 1.5 million tonnes in the second quarter, said Jiang.

Wen said PetroChina would make sure oil supply in quake-hit areas a top-priority for the Sichuan branch, adding that the situation that cars waiting to be filled at gas stations in some areas will be eased in the near future.

"Queuing for gas is caused by people's psychological panic, but not oil shortages," said Wen.

(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2008)