29.07.2015, 08:53
Fitch: China's New Oil Import Rules Have Minimal Impact on Status Quo
OREANDA-NEWS. Fitch Ratings says that China's looser criteria for crude oil import rights are a positive but modest step towards encouraging private-sector participation in the country's refining industry. The rating agency believes the established state-owned players will maintain their dominant market position in the country's oil and gas sector in the near to medium term.
China's Ministry of Commerce announced on 23 July that refiners or petrochemical companies that have at least one crude distillation unit with minimum yearly processing capacity of 2 million tonnes, oil storage capacity of 300,000 tonnes, and an available credit line of USD1bn from commercial banks, among other criteria, would be eligible to apply for a licence to import crude oil. Previously, the criteria included two years' experience in importing oil, which effectively ruled out many private refiners.
Fitch views this as only an initial step towards increasing private-sector participation in a market that has been dominated by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Independent refiners' profitability could be enhanced, as those with an import license will be able to source for crude oil from more than just the country's current five designated importers, which include the three biggest oil and gas SOEs. This latest change and the liberalisation of oil product prices that was effective September 2013 will encourage the upgrading or phasing-out of inefficient, small-scale facilities.
The incentives for private-sector companies to expand in China's refining industry, though, remain limited by regulation of oil product exports, domestic product price controls (albeit loosened), and limited domestic marketing channels. The slower demand growth in the near term and refining overcapacity, especially for diesel, would also reduce the benefits from the new rules.
The Big Three oil and gas SOEs - China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC, A+/Stable), China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec, A+/Stable) and CNOOC Limited (A+/Stable) - account for over 70% of the country's refining capacity. Fitch does not expect the three companies' strong market positions and strategic importance to the state to be eroded in the foreseeable future, although their oil trading profits may be modestly trimmed. The new rules mark a continuation of the government's push for more private-sector participation in the oil and gas sector, in the same vein as Sinopec's sale of part of its marketing unit in 2014 and CNPC's disposal of some of its pipeline assets in 2013.
China's Ministry of Commerce announced on 23 July that refiners or petrochemical companies that have at least one crude distillation unit with minimum yearly processing capacity of 2 million tonnes, oil storage capacity of 300,000 tonnes, and an available credit line of USD1bn from commercial banks, among other criteria, would be eligible to apply for a licence to import crude oil. Previously, the criteria included two years' experience in importing oil, which effectively ruled out many private refiners.
Fitch views this as only an initial step towards increasing private-sector participation in a market that has been dominated by state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Independent refiners' profitability could be enhanced, as those with an import license will be able to source for crude oil from more than just the country's current five designated importers, which include the three biggest oil and gas SOEs. This latest change and the liberalisation of oil product prices that was effective September 2013 will encourage the upgrading or phasing-out of inefficient, small-scale facilities.
The incentives for private-sector companies to expand in China's refining industry, though, remain limited by regulation of oil product exports, domestic product price controls (albeit loosened), and limited domestic marketing channels. The slower demand growth in the near term and refining overcapacity, especially for diesel, would also reduce the benefits from the new rules.
The Big Three oil and gas SOEs - China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC, A+/Stable), China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec, A+/Stable) and CNOOC Limited (A+/Stable) - account for over 70% of the country's refining capacity. Fitch does not expect the three companies' strong market positions and strategic importance to the state to be eroded in the foreseeable future, although their oil trading profits may be modestly trimmed. The new rules mark a continuation of the government's push for more private-sector participation in the oil and gas sector, in the same vein as Sinopec's sale of part of its marketing unit in 2014 and CNPC's disposal of some of its pipeline assets in 2013.
Комментарии