TAIYUAN CITY, China, April 19 /PRNewswire-Asia-FirstCall/ -- Longwei Petroleum Investment Holding Ltd. (OTC Bulletin Board:LPIH.ob - News), a leading oil and fuel wholesaler and distributor operating in Shanxi Province, China, today announced that it expects to generate an additional $3.4 million each in revenue, gross profit and net profit from its current gasoline and diesel inventories and a corresponding increase in both gross profit and net profit from the sale of current inventory of approximately 5 percent as a result of the latest Chinese government mandate to raise the benchmark retail price of diesel oil and gasoline.

The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced last Tuesday it would raise prices of gasoline and diesel both by 320 yuan (46.88 U.S. dollars) per ton from April 14, 2010. The price rises translates into mark-ups of 0.24 yuan for gasoline and 0.27 yuan for diesel per liter, the measurement used at service stations in China. This is the first such move in 2010.

International crude oil prices have been rising since March, reaching 87 U.S. dollars per barrel on April 6, the highest price for the last 18 months. At the start of 2009 China adopted a new oil pricing mechanism that allows the NDRC to adjust retail fuel prices when the international crude oil price changes more than four percent over 22 straight working days. The last adjustment occurred on November 10, 2009. The decision was also made based on domestic economic conditions, market demand and supply and oil consumers' ability to shoulder price rises, according to the valuation institution officer of NDRC.

Cai Yongjun, chief executive officer of Longwei Petroleum, commented: "Longwei has been increasing its gasoline and diesel inventory over the past several months in anticipation of this increase in pricing. We are pleased to report this important event, which is a one-time increase in our projected net profits for the 2010 fiscal year of 16 percent. As of the date of the price increase Longwei had a total of 34,126 metric tons of gasoline inventory and 35,544 metric tons of diesel inventory."