UPDATE 2-PetroChina buys a third more diesel for June

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By Felicia Loo

SINGAPORE, May 14 (Reuters) - PetroChina (0857.HK: Quote, Profile, Research) is importing 400,000 tonnes of diesel for June, up a third from May and matching its record high January purchase, after a deadly earthquake disrupted gas supply to major cities.

PetroChina also wants to stockpile diesel ahead of the summer Olympics, traders said, helped by an extension of a tax break on imported fuels.

Surging demand for diesel from the world's second largest energy consumer pushed Asia's gas oil crack against Middle East Dubai crude to a record high of $39.20 a barrel on Wednesday, and also comes at a time of strong European demand.

"Diesel demand will spike during summer," said a Petrochina source who declined to be named.

An earthquake of 7.9 magnitude that rattled China on Monday, the country's worst in 32 years, pushed the state refiner to look for even more fuel supply, sources said. Electricity outages would force consumers to turn to diesel-fired generators instead.

"There are transportation bottlenecks as the earthquake disrupted gas supply from Sichuan to Shanghai and Guangdong," said Gordon Kwan, analyst at CLSA in Hong Kong.

China has been importing loads of diesel since late last year, partly due to coal shortages, with imports at 132,000 barrels per day (bpd) from November to March, quadruple from 28,000 bpd a year ago.