By Xiao Wan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-15 07:33

PetroChina and Sinopec, the country's leading oil companies, have increased fuel supplies to earthquake-affected regions to assist disaster relief work, the firms said on Wednesday.

PetroChina, China's largest oil firm, announced a move to allocate 100,000 tons of refined oil to ensure supplies in the areas.

Some refineries have been ordered to increase production, the company said. Its Lanzhou refinery, for example, has increased production by 10 percent.

Sinopec said it will provide 20,000 tons of diesel and 10,000 tons of gasoline for affected regions.

The firms also said they are comprehensively inspecting their projects in the regions devastated by the earthquake, although neither has major oil refineries or chemical projects in the worst-hit areas.

After a 22-hour post-quake suspension of operations, the Lanzhou-Chengdu-Chongqing line is now pumping 600 cu m of refined oil an hour, PetroChina said on Wednesday.

Sinopec said on Tuesday that most natural gas wells of its southwestern branch were closed after the quake, but the impact was slight on wells in northeast Sichuan and oil refining plants.

The company's largest natural gas field, Puguang, is in the northeast of Sichuan, a province with abundant natural gas reserves.

In another development, State Grid Corp of China, which is in charge of the power supply to all 26 of China's provinces, said on Tuesday it will hasten power-system restorations in regions affected by the quake.

The company will use "every means available to ensure power supplies to some important sectors, such as transportation, communication and hospitals", the company said in a statement.

The company's main power grids are currently stable and the electricity supply is gradually recovering, State Grid said.

Hanwang county in Deyang, for example, was able to power all street and traffic lights with two generators, assisting rescue efforts in the region, the firm said on its website.

Power has also been restored in many areas outside Sichuan.

In Shaanxi, for example, a main 330-kV power line, four 110-kV lines, two 35-kV lines and 84 10-kV lines were restored, State Grid said.