THE total losses caused by the Sichuan earthquake to PetroChina Co and Sinopec Corp, China's two major oil companies, will not exceed 5 billion yuan (US$716.8 million), according to CLSA Ltd.

There are no damages to subsurface oil and gas reserves despite intermittent interruption to production in the region, CLSA's head of China energy research Gordon Kwan said.

PetroChina parent CNPC said 908 petrol stations, 47 oil tanks and 71 pipelines have been damaged, losing 1.78 billion yuan in initial estimates. Many of Sinopec's natural gas wells in its western Sichuan were closed as a precaution last week with output falling off 90 percent in the region. Kwan said there is steady resumption of gas production now, back to 20-30 percent of previous levels. Sinopec is supplying the Sichuan capital Chengdu with 1.3 million cubic meters of gas daily, little changed from levels before the quake.

"Overall, when all the dust is settled, I would estimate the total damage not to exceed 3 billion yuan for PetroChina and 2 billion yuan for Sinopec, roughly 2 percent and 5 percent of their overall 2008 profit estimates," Kwan said.