Oops: Beijing thows oil majors a meager bone

Well, I have to admit my poor timing in predicting that Beijing was more worried about inflation than giving the oil majors a price hike they desperately wanted. Just a day after I made my pronouncement, Beijing went ahead and raised gas prices, though only by a meager 0.26 to 0.30 yuan per litre. Clearly soaring oil prices in response to all the turbulence in the Middle East have captured Beijing’s attention. This appears to be a nod to that, though these kinds of price hikes will hardly offset the big jumps in oil prices we’ve seen of late. I’m guessing oil majors like Sinopec (HKEx: 386; NYSE: SNP) and PetroChina (HKEx: 856; NYSE: PTR) will continue to bitch and moan, and try other less obvious tactics to get the higher prices they want. But in the end, Beijing is still likely to be more focused on inflation, and only toss them periodic symbolic price hike bones like this one.