Import Data News
- 18 more oil private importers licensed
Date: 16-May-2007 Sources: (Shenzhen Daily)
THE government recently licensed 18 more crude oil and fuel oil private importers in line with its rising quota for oil imports this year.
The Ministry of Commerce late last week announced it was granting licenses to two more crude oil importers and 16 fuel oil importers, additional to around 80 importers licensed in the past six years.
Early this year, China raised quotas on imports of crude and oil products for private importers by around 15 percent on year in 2007.
By licensing more private oil importers, the government is gradually easing its control of oil imports, although private companies are still required to apply for quotas while State-designated oil traders - PetroChina's Chinaoil, Sinopec's Unipec, Sinochem and Zhuhai Zhenrong - can import as much as they need.
The latest licensed private importers for crude oil are China Qing'an International Trading Co. and Gaolu Foreign Economic and Trading Co. in Erlian city in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
The new importers for fuel oil include China Aviation Oil Import and Export Co., a unit of China Aviation Oil Holding Co., and Shengli Oilfield International Petroleum Development and Investment Co., which is affiliated to Sinopec.
The quota for crude imports by private traders in 2007 is 16.68 million tons or around 334,000 barrels a day, up 15 percent from 2006. The quota for oil product imports by private traders, comprising mostly fuel oil, will be 9.25 million tons this year, up 15 percent from 8.04 million tons in 2006.
The government last December liberalized the country's crude and oil products wholesale distribution, storage and retail sectors in accordance with its commitment to the World Trade Organization, giving private traders more business opportunities.
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