Cai Yingbo

THE recent severe shortage of diesel in Shenzhen and other cities across China was caused by gas stations hoarding fuel, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Monday.

Diesel supplies in the city returned to normal Monday after a shortage lasting weeks, during which long queues of vehicles formed outside some gas stations.

The NDRC, the country’s top economic planner, blamed retailers for hoarding fuel in the hope of profiting from potential price rises, and thus causing diesel shortages across the country. Shortages were also caused by reconstruction in some regions, required after unusually severe snowstorms damaged public and private property, the NDRC said.

However, Shenzhen’s administration for industry and commerce said it was hard to determine whether gas retailers in Shenzhen had hoarded diesel or not. “We check the fuel prices at gas stations to ensure that they obey the government price regulation, but we don’t know if the retailers have withheld the sale to gain profit,” said Peng Conglin, director of the information office of the municipal administration for industry and commerce.

PetroChina and Sinopec Corp., China’s top two State refiners, who blamed the supply shortage on the hoarding of oil along with rumors about oil price rises, said they would take “active and effective” measures to ensure smooth production of oil products to ensure stability in the market.

“The impact on all aspects of society of adjusting the prices of oil products is relatively large,” unnamed officials from the two firms said in a question-and-answer session posted on the NDRC Web site.

“When making such an adjustment, the domestic economic situation, particularly the consumer price situation, has to be considered,” the NDRC quoted officials as saying.

China said Monday there would be no immediate increase in State-set prices for refined oil products, citing already high inflation and the social impact of price rises.

The nation has long kept prices of refined fuel, gas and electricity artificially low to shield consumers from global price increases.