Gas Shortage Strikes China

Reuters is reporting that a gasoline shortage is causing unrest in China's Guangdong province:

[A]uthorities had sent a large number of public security officers as well as paramilitary police to fuel stations amid fears that the latest fuel shortage could spark social instability.

"Several thousand public security officers and paramilitary police have been stationed at the 547 filling stations across Guangzhou in recent days," the paper said.

The country's two biggest oil firms, Sinopec Corp. and PetroChina Co. Ltd. , have to buy crude in soaring global markets but refine it into products sold in China at low, state-set prices.

Recently, they have been trimming supply to loss-making domestic markets to protect their balance sheets and this has led to long queues outside gas stations in China's export hub.

For pictures, visit Gateway Pundit. Thanks to Instapundit for the pointers.

UPDATE: For more on China's burgeoning nuclear energy program, click here for a feature from USA Today. Be sure to take a look at the companion Flash presentation too. For more on what's driving China to build new plants, visit Open Source and listen to their podcast. Thanks to Preston Bannister for the pointer to the Open Source podcast.

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