China’s government has told the country’s top oil refiners to suspend exports of diesel and gasoline as an escalating conflict in the Persian Gulf disrupts the arrival of crude from one of the world’s largest producing regions.
While the country is only the third-largest supplier of oil products into the region — its vast refining sector primarily serves domestic demand — China’s curbs just six days into a war reflect a scramble across Asia to prioritize domestic needs as the crisis in the Middle East deepens.
Officials from the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planner, called for a temporary suspension of refined product shipments that would begin immediately, according to people familiar with the matter. They asked not to be named as the discussions are not public.