China is raising non-state import quotas for both
crude oil and fuel oil for 2011 by 15% from this year's levels, in
line with the nation's commitments as a member of the World Trade
Organization, the Ministry of Commerce said on its website.
The
government is setting the crude oil import quota for non-state oil
traders next year at 29.1 million metric tons, and the fuel oil
import quota at 16.2 million tons, it said.
The country is
committed under the WTO to increase quotas for crude oil and fuel oil
that non-state firms can import by 15% each year up to 2011.
However, crude imports by non-state companies must be sold to
PetroChina Co. (PTR) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (SNP) for
domestic distribution.
Independent Chinese refiners have been
fighting for stable crude oil supplies for years and still rely on
fuel oil for use as feedstock to produce off-specification oil
products.