Sinopec halts gasoline exports as margins go negative

BEIJING, March 8 (Reuters) - China's top oil refiner, Sinopec Corp (0386.HK), stopped exporting gasoline in March, Yu Xizhi, general manager of Sinopec's 270,000-barrel-per-day Maoming refinery, told reporters on Tuesday.

Earlier sources told Reuters the company had not issued refineries with gasoline export quotas for the month, but had begun offering financial incentives for plants to produce more of the fuel. [ID:nTOE72702X]

Yu said China's state-set fuel prices were currently equivalent to a crude oil price of $85-86 per barrel, while actual crude oil costs were much higher.

"Maoming's crude import costs averaged $98 per barrel in March," he said.

(Reporting by Jim Bai and Tom Miles; Editing by Ken Wills)