Two Chinese oil giants on Wednesday said they were stepping up efforts to guarantee the oil supplies to quake-stricken areas in southwestern Sichuan Province.

The announcement by China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) and Sinopec came as people in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, which was hit by the 7.8-magnitude quake on Monday, lined up in panic at gas stations.

Wen Mingyou, spokesperson of the CNPC Sichuan branch, assured Sichuan residents that panic buying was uncalled for. He also advised them to take public transport to save oil for disaster relief.

Oil supplies in quake-hit areas would be sufficient, as the company could tap national reserves and stocks in other parts of China, Wen said.

Sinopec had made emergency deliveries of 20,000 tons of diesel and 10,000 tons of petrol to its Sichuan and Chongqing branches. It also ordered its refineries in Lanzhou, Jilin and Urumqi to raise output by up to 10 percent.

Stocks in disaster-hit areas were sufficient to supply the market and meet disaster relief demand, said Sinopec, which was actively coordinating with the CNPC to ensure the supply.

In an emergency plan initiated after the earthquake, Sinopec ordered its gas stations in affected areas to open around the clock where possible.

The CNPC announced earlier an emergency move to allocate 100,000 tons of refined oil to ensure supplies to disaster-hit regions. To date, 60,000 tons of oil had been transferred to Sichuan Province.

(Xinhua News Agency May 15, 2008)