Beijing to clean up gas stations before Olympics

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BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing plans to shut down 144 petrol stations by the end of May, about 10 percent of the city's total, to help clean up its air before the August Olympic games, state media reported on Friday. These gas stations, and nine oil depots, are mostly owned by China's state oil major Sinopec and by CNPC, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the city's environmental authority.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Beijing plans to shut down 144 petrol stations by the end of May, about 10 percent of the city's total, to help clean up its air before the August Olympic games, state media reported on Friday.

These gas stations, and nine oil depots, are mostly owned by China's state oil major Sinopec and by CNPC, the official Xinhua News Agency reported, citing the city's environmental authority.

The oil facilities, mostly in outlying areas, are either too costly to run or fail to meet air quality regulations, the report said.

All the oil storage tanks and petrol stations in the capital city will have until the end of May to install equipment, costing about 600,000 yuan ($83,680) apiece, to capture emissions from vehicles, the report said without giving details.

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The city has 1,442 petrol stations.

(Reporting by Chen Aizhu, editing by Anthony Barker)