State-owned China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp) is considering halting fuel sales to private gas stations in some parts of the country, representatives from the company said

By cutting deliveries to privately owned gas stations, their competitors in the downstream market, Sinopec aims to meet the expanding demands of its own growing network of fueling stations, while at the same time pushing up its sales revenues in a move to offset losses from its refining business. The oil giant has been curtailing its fuel wholesale operations for the past year, a crude oil analyst for Shanghai Cifco Futuressaid.

Last year, Sinopec reduced the wholesale deliveries of fuel to privately held stations by 13.53 percent, while revenues from its own gas stations grew by 14.39 percent during the same period, according to a financial report issued by the company on March 25.