China allocates 4.42 mil mt crude import quotas

China has recently allocate 4.42 million tons of crude oil quotas to four independent refineries. Among the third batch of quota, Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical in Zhejiang province received 3 million tons of quota. Hualong Petrochemical, Lianhe Petrochemical and Hualian Petrochemical in Shandong province received 0.75 million tons, 0.42 million tons and 0.25 million tons, respectively.

The third batch of allocations are quite low and most of independent refiners have no allocations. There might be a fourth batch of quota in 2021 but without no clear hint from the official side.

It has bring the total quota to 16.225 million tons, accounting for around 94% of the total quota ceilings.

In China, state-owned refiners-- Sinopec, PetroChina, CNOOC—do not need quotas to import crude oil. All other refineries, including independent and those owned and operated by state-owned companies such as Sinochem, ChemChina and Norinco require quotas.