Sinopec and PetroChina are expected to refine a combined 29.3m-29.7m tonnes of crude in July, with daily throughput up by 0.26% from the previous month, sources from both companies said.

Sinopec's crude throughput target for July is 17.6m-18.0m tonnes, down by 1.6% from June on a daily basis.

The oil giant will keep relatively low operating rates at most subsidiary refineries in July.

PetroChina is planning to process 11.8m-11.9m tonnes of crude in July, with daily throughput up by 3.2% month on month.

The two oil majors' crude throughput may increase further in August because of limited refinery turnarounds and expected fall in oil product inventories, market sources predicted.

ICIS C1 research includes 35 refineries subsidiary to Sinopec with refining capacities totalling 260m tonnes/year and 31 under PetroChina with a combined 180m tonnes/year capacity. The total refining capacity of the involved refineries accounts for 70% of China's crude processing capacity (with independent refineries included).