Oil deregulation reports denied

China's top economic administrator yesterday denied reports the government might liberalize the prices of refined oil and natural gas soon.

"Those reports which say the government might liberalize oil and gas prices in advance in early June are groundless," the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said on its website yesterday.

Media reports had said the government would end its controls on refined oil prices in the near future and that the NDRC, the National Energy Bureau and the country's leading oil companies PetroChina and Sinopec were in final discussions about the liberalization of fuel prices.