Sinopec to raise 2011 crude runs by 8 pct - report

BEIJING, March 22 (Reuters) - Asia's top refiner China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) will raise crude oil processing this year by 8 percent from 2010 to 228 million tonnes, or 4.56 million barrels per day (bpd), a Chinese website reported late Monday.

The planned increase came after Sinopec lifted refining capacity last year, the report on www.caijing.com.cn said, citing an unnamed industry source close to the company.

The report did not say whether the plan would be affected by changes in crude oil costs and fuel prices in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer.

The profitability of Sinopec, China's largest fuel supplier, is subject to regulated fuel pricing more than rival PetroChina Co Ltd as it has a comparatively smaller upstream portfolio to cushion downstream weakness.

PetroChina Chairman Jiang Jiemin said on March 5 that the company was seeing refining losses with crude oil above $90 per barrel, while a Sinopec official said on March 8 that domestic fuel prices were equivalent to $85-86 per barrel of crude.

Brent crude futures were about $115 per barrel and U.S. crude was above $102 on Tuesday, supported by supply concerns triggered by spreading unrest in the Middle East, even though uncertainty about demand from the world's No.3 consumer Japan capped gains.

In a moderate and delayed move, the central government raised gasoline and diesel prices by 4.1-4.5 percent on Feb. 20, the third increase since October, pushing fuel prices to record high levels.

The 22-day moving average price of Brent, Dubai and Cinta crude oils, on which China's fuel pricing is believed to be based, has gained more than 11 percent since then, according to consultancy C1 Energy.

The gains in crude oil prices were far above the 4 percent change in a one-month review period that justifies a fuel price increase, suggesting Beijing from now on will have to weigh the timing and scale of another fuel price rise against inflation concerns. (Reporting by Jim Bai and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Chris Lewis)