PetroChina sells rare gasoline cargo to U.S. Gulf

www.forbes.com Reuters, 02.04.03, 10:16 PM ET

SINGAPORE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - PetroChina has made its first direct sale of gasoline to the U.S. Gulf Coast, taking advantage of a squeeze in U.S. supplies due to a drop in exports from strike-bound Venezuela, traders said on Wednesday. The top Chinese oil firm has fixed a 40,000-tonne parcel of 90-octane gasoline, for early February loading, from the northeast Chinese port of Dalian to the U.S. Gulf, they said. "Chinese barrels normally move to the U.S. via traders or majors when the arbitrage window is open, but this is the first time PetroChina has sold gasoline on a delivered basis," said one trader. She said the cargo was sold to an oil major, but declined to give details. PetroChina <0857.HK> (nyse: PTR - news - people), China's second largest refiner, accounts for about 40 percent of China's total gasoline exports, which amounted to 6.12 million tonnes (51.7 million barrels) in 2002.