LPG suppliers using substandard cylinders or skimping their supplies may face a maximum penalty of 30,000 yuan (US$3,700), Guangdong Province's quality supervising watchdog announced Wednesday.

The bureau has sent three taskforces on a blitz mission to inspect Liquefied Petroleum Gas stations across the province and will blacklist the disqualified suppliers this Friday and next Saturday, the Guangzhou Daily quoted an official as saying.

The official revealed that Wednesday's inspection found 82 substandard 50-kg cylinders -- supplied to restaurants -- at a gas station in Foshan in southwestern Guangdong. "We ordered the Shadi gas station to stop circulating the cylinders, which could pose serious hazards to users."

He also said stations without a license, failing to fill the cylinders according to their load, or not examining their cylinders regularly could be fined up to 30,000 yuan.

With the LPG price soaring to an unprecedented 115 yuan per cylinder (15 kg) in Guangzhou recently, some gas stations are skimping their supplies to earn even more money.

A resident surnamed Wen complained a 15-kg cylinder he purchased from an unlicensed station weighed only 6 kilograms. When the gas station sent another cylinder at his request, the gas only offered him four showers before it was exhausted, the Southern Metropolis Daily said Thursday. Wen later found out that the remaining 11 kg liquid was water.

An official with the Guangzhou quality supervision bureau said the number of complaints against unlicensed gas suppliers rocketed recently, but it was difficult to catch them, since they only offered a phone number in their ads and kept moving around.

A Guangzhou consumer rights hotline operator said she has received 20 to 30 complaints daily in recent weeks.

The official wanted to remind residents to purchase gas at the four big companies and offered their hotline numbers as (020) 96917, 96907, 8396-2222, and 8429-3333. He also warned people against touts giving out cards on the streets.

Meanwhile, oil industry insiders said 18,000 tons of LPG was shipped to the city Wednesday, greatly soothing the tight demand and expected to stabilize the gas price. Another 14,000 tons will arrive next Friday.

Ma Zhuangchang, Guangdong's vice pricing chief, said Wednesday the rally in LPG price hike would soon see an end with increasing supplies from imports and other northern provinces.

An industry source said LPG prices were surging in Guangdong because with only three refineries -- in Guangzhou, Maoming and Zhanjiang -- it had a serious shortfall.

The Maoming refinery mainly supplies southern China. Guangzhou Sinopec's refinery produces about 200,000 tons of LPG. As demand for the gas is several million tons, Guangdong Province is heavily reliant on imports and supplies from other provinces. It consumes 15,000 tons of LPG daily, of which 79 percent is imported.

(Shenzhen Daily January 20, 2006)