Sinopec raises Shanghai gasoline prices

Sinopec Corp filling stations in Shanghai have raised some gasoline prices to 4.95 yuan ($0.72) per litre from 4.66 yuan despite a soft market, the official Shanghai Securities News said on Saturday.

The paper quoted an analyst as saying that the unusual move, at 59 gasoline stations under the refiner's Shanghai unit, may be a tentative step to forestall a price war in China's partially liberalised market as gasoline stocks rise and retail demand weakens.

It added that the industry would be closely watching the reaction of PetroChina, which along with Sinopec dominates the domestic fuel market.

Government figures showed China's fuel stocks at a record high at the end of 2008, as demand slowed with flagging economic growth.