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China problems extra petroleum import quota to independent refineries, sources state

China has actually issued an additional crude oil import quota of a minimum of 5.84 million metric tons (116,800 barrels per day) to independent refiners for freights arriving by end2024 and in early 2025, people acquainted with the circumstance said on Monday. The quotas are likely to lift China's unrefined imports heading into next year, after purchases rebounded in November, driven by sharp cost cuts for shipments from Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

Refiners, consisting of Hengli Petrochemical and some independents in eastern Shandong province, likewise called teapots, have been notified that they will get extra quota volumes for 2024, they stated.

Of these, an approximated 3.84 million loads (76,800 bpd) were provided to Shandong-based teapots, while Hengli got 2 million loads, the sources stated.

These quotas are anticipated to be made use of by the end of this year, according to traders.

The sources declined to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media. China's Ministry of Commerce, which regulates crude oil imports quota, did not right away respond to a fax for comment .

Some teapots, struck by poor earnings margins triggered by weak need this year, had actually been regreting about insufficient quota which constrained their imports of feedstock for production.

The operation rates among teapots increase in the past three weeks as maintenance concerned an end, and their margins enhanced thanks to rising production of gasoline and diesel, local consultancy Oilchem said on Friday. China has actually set the import quota for petroleum at 243 million heaps for non state-owned companies in 2024 and raised it to 257 million lots for 2025.

The additional quotas will stir up some interest in timely freights, especially Iranian oil, which stays in the trading cycle for December arrivals, said Xu Muyu, a senior analyst at Kpler. Costs of Iranian oil to China rose to multi-year highs this month as lower exports drove up costs amidst issues that Middle East stress may interrupt supply.

(source: Reuters)