China has given a third batch of 2023 crude oil import quotas, bringing the total cargo in the first half of this year to 194.1 million tonnes, up 20% from the same period last year.
China increases oil import: According to the six sources with knowledge of the situation and papers obtained by Reuters, 33 companies, the majority of whom are independent refiners, will receive the distribution of the 62.28 million tonnes of allotments in this round.
Comparatively, Beijing issued 52.69 million tonnes in June last year, while 161.72 million tonnes of quota were released for the first half of 2022. A faxed request for comment received no immediate response from China’s Ministry of Commerce.
Rongsheng Petrochemical’s subsidiary, Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical Co., received 20.0 million tonnes in the most recent round of issuance.
Hengli Petrochemical received 3.0 million tonnes, and Shenghong Petrochemical received 8.0 million.
We gave the remaining quotas to teapots, or smaller independent refiners, in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong.
Due to the country’s weak petrochemical and gasoline demand, independent refineries in China have increased their imports of cheap crude oil, primarily from Russia, Iran, and Venezuela, over the previous few months.
Analysts say teapot refineries’ refining margins are more than twice as high as their state-backed competitors.
Chinese authorities increased their scrutiny of crude oil quotas in response to the flow of inexpensive feedstock.