BEIJING – The worst Chinese fuel shortage in two years hit the country’s capital this week.

Tensions between the Chinese government and its independent oil companies are rising over the issue of who should pay the fuel subsidies in China, the Associated Press reports. At the current gasoline prices, most plants can only break even with crude at around $65 a barrel.

In Hefei, the capital of eastern Anhui Province, independent suppliers had almost all run out of diesel and were rationing supplies.

“We don’t have diesel today. The supply has been quite spotty. Long lines in front of gas stations are very common these days in Hefei,” an independent gas station manager told the news source.

The supply burden has fallen on state-owned companies such as Sinopec, which for the past two years has received hundreds of millions of dollars in year-end compensation from the Chinese government.  Rationing has spread along the southeastern coast and inland provinces are also struggling with supply levels.

A Sinopec official told the AP that the firm will switch off a crude unit in November and process 3 percent less crude than in October. Cutting output during a shortage may be sending a signal to the Chinese government that it wants controls eased on retail pump prices, industry officials said.