BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 3
By Leman Zeynalova - Trend:
China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has supplied over 60,000 tons of refined oil and 354 million cubic meters of natural gas to the local market of Hubei as of February 24, Trend reports citing the company.
Hubei is a landlocked province in Central China, with capital being Wuhan city, where coronavirus was detected for the first time.
“Since the novel coronavirus outbreak, CNPC actively shoulders the responsibilities as state-owned enterprise to ensure sufficient supply of refined oil products and gas to Hubei province by mobilizing company-wide resources,” said the company.
Besides, the company said it has supplied natural gas as donations in kind to 39 designated hospitals in Hubei province.
“Since the outbreak, CNPC's 625 service stations in Hubei province maintain normal operations to ensure fast refueling of all vehicles for rescue purposes. In Wuhan City, some service stations set up green areas with designated oil nozzles and staff to provide quick service for all kinds of rescue vehicles working in the epidemic prevention and control. At the same time, CNPC actively supports the construction of Huoshenshan Hospital, Leishenshan Hospital and other makeshift hospitals, by providing sufficient and uninterrupted supply of oil products,” said CNPC.
In general, CNPC said that daily natural gas sales has rebounded to 500 million cubic metres from 460 million cubic metres on Feb.14 as demand improves.
The oil giant said it has also cut oil throughput by 20 percent in February amid the virus outbreak in order to reduce increasing inventory pressure.
The outbreak in the Chinese city of Wuhan - which is an international transport hub - began at a fish market in late December 2019.
Some sources claim the coronavirus outbreak started as early as November 2019. The symptoms include cough, headache, fatigue, fever, aching and difficulty breathing. It is primarily spread through airborne contact or contact with contaminated objects.
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