Public Opinion Sought in Regulating Crude Oil & Oil Product Business

Regulations on Distribution of Crude Oil and Oil Products (Exposure Draft) was recently issued, and opinions can be put forward by August 19, the Ministry of Commerce of China (MOC) announced on July 19.
China has adopted a qualification licensing system for businesses dealing in crude oil and oil products. The MOC will guide local governments to make detailed plans and rules.
Firms seeking to qualify to wholesale or warehouse crude oil must have depot capacity of at least 100 000 cubic meters (no less than 200 000 m3 if applying for both).
To qualify for wholesaling or warehousing oil products, enterprises must own depots with capacity of at least 10 000 m3 (no less than 20 000 m3 for both).
In a Sino-foreign JV, the Chinese firm must be the controlling shareholder if the JV has more than 30 oil product retail outlets or sells different kinds/brands of oil products from multiple suppliers.