China exported 8.98 million tons of oil products in the first seven months of 2007, a growth of 26.2 percent on last year, customs sources said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the country bought from abroad 21.74 million tons of oil products, down 1.0 percent.

Increasing exports with less imports aggravated short supply in some areas, as oil consumption peaked in summer.

Qiu Xiaofeng, an analyst with China Merchants Securities, said if the export was not curbed, oil prices at home would rise.

Other analysts believed the increasing exports and the ensuing short supply were due largely to the price gap between domestic and international markets.

Customs sources also said from January to July, China imported 96.37 million tons of crude oil, up 14.8 percent.