China may curb fuel exports due to declining stocks — OilPrice
China may impose restrictions on petroleum product exports due to declining domestic gasoline and diesel fuel stocks. As OilPrice reports, citing Bloomberg, gasoline stocks at the country’s state-owned energy companies fell by 2.9% last week, reaching their lowest level since 2022. The data were provided by Chinese research company JLC International.
Diesel stocks are also declining
According to JLC International, diesel fuel stocks in China dropped to their lowest level in 15 months. They decreased by 2.4% over the week.
Energy Aspects analyst Jiana Sun told Bloomberg that, amid mounting tensions in the domestic market, the risk is growing that Beijing will limit monthly exports of light petroleum products in the fourth quarter to about 1.2 million tonnes.
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Previous export restrictions
China already restricted fuel exports in the spring. In early March, Beijing instructed energy companies to suspend signing new export contracts and seek to cancel already planned overseas deliveries. The restrictions immediately applied to shipments of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel that had not cleared customs as of March 11.
A month later, China began easing these restrictions. In June, exports rose amid supply shortages from the Middle East, where oil refineries were damaged by drone and missile strikes. Fuel oil shipments increased especially sharply, reaching their 2026 high in June.
OilPrice notes that a possible new restriction on Chinese exports to protect the domestic market could worsen the global shortage of diesel fuel, where seasonal demand is rising.
