BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) and PetroChina Co Ltd (HK 0857), the country's two major refiners, have raised wholesale prices for oil products in Beijing amid surging international oil prices and refinery shutdowns, Beijing News reported.

The paper quoted private retailers as saying that Sinopec raised the wholesale price of 90# category gasoline by 80 yuan per ton while PetroChina increased prices by 100 yuan per ton. The gasoline now costs around 5,800 yuan per ton.

Sinopec and PetroChina also raised the wholesale price of 0# type diesel by 30 yuan per ton and 80 yuan per ton respectively, to around 5,430 yuan per ton.

The move follows wholesale price hikes in some southern and eastern China markets including Guangdong and Shanghai.

A Sinopec official was quoted as saying that major refineries are undergoing scheduled maintenance in July and August, while many small local refineries have shut down production to curb losses due to the combination of high international oil prices and retail price caps.

China's oil product prices are capped by the government in order to control inflation and head off potential social unrest.

New York crude contracts for September delivery rose to a record 78.77 usd on Aug 1, topping last July's record of 78.40 usd.

Cao Changqing, director of the economic planning agency's price department, earlier told reporters that the government must consider the ability of downstream industries to endure margin pressure in determining its next action on price.

(1 usd = 7.56 yuan)