Sinopec, the nation's largest oil refiner, has diverted supplies of gasoline and diesel from central and southern regions to the quake-stricken Sichuan Province for recovery work.

From the May 12:00 to 6:00 PM Sunday, the branches in Hunan, Hubei and Guangdong had sent a total of 38,000 tons of emergency fuel supplies to Sichuan and Chongqing, the Beijing-based company told Xinhua on Tuesday.

"The amount is a mere fraction and will not affect fuel supply in those regions," said a Sinopec official.

So far in May, Sinopec had sent 63,800 tons of oil supplies to the quake area, 124 percent of its original plan for the whole month.

Sinopec said all of its gas stations in the two regions were in operation and supplies were delivered around the clock.

Meanwhile, PetroChina, another leading oil producer in the country, had by Monday sent 83,300 tons out of 100,000 tons of emergency oil supplies it pledged for Sichuan.

The Beijing-based company said it so far had resumed fuel supply among all gas stations in the province.

PetroChina said its production of oil and gas in the province had almost restored to pre-quake levels, with the daily output of gas reaching 99 percent of its full capacity before the quake.

The two oil companies said last week that oil stock in disaster-hit areas were sufficient to supply the market and meet disaster relief demand.

The 8.0-magnitude quake that struck the southwest Sichuan on May 12 had killed 34,073 and injured 245,108 others as of noon on Monday. It also led to direct economic losses worth 67 billion yuan among 14,207 industrial enterprises in the province.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2008)