China's Fuel Export Halt Sends Oil Prices Soaring
Oil prices rebounded strongly on Thursday, with Brent crude for December delivery rising 2.2% to $100.15 after earlier falling as low as $96.76.
The price swing was largely driven by China's decision to halt fuel exports to all destinations outside Hong Kong and Macau until further notice from Beijing.
Chinese refiners, including PetroChina and Zhejiang Petrochemical, suspended most of their gasoline and jet fuel shipments planned for October, with the total export volume reaching 1.4 million metric tons of diesel, 500,000 tons of gasoline, and at least 2 million tons of jet fuel in September.
Beijing's move to restrict exports is aimed at ensuring domestic supply security, as Chinese gasoline and diesel inventories have fallen to multi-year lows.