(ATF) – The State Council has approved measures to support the opening-up of the oil and gas industry chain in east China’s Zhejiang Pilot Free Trade Zone.
It proposed 26 specific support measures in 11 areas, including the introduction of international strategic investors in oil trade and accelerating the transformation and upgrade of the petrochemical and refining industry.
Tang Wenhong, director of the Free Trade Zone Port Department of the Ministry of Commerce, said in a special online special press conference Wednesday that efforts to liberalise the sector would focus on major links in the oil and gas industry chain such as trade, storage, transportation, processing and circulation as well as financial and taxation policies.
The Zhejiang Pilot FTZ was established to export refined oil, and qualified refining and chemical integration enterprises within it were the first to begin exporting.
More efforts will be made to promote the development of the liquefied natural gas and clean energy industry, improve the supply of low-sulfur fuel oil for shipping and strengthen the marine environment to achieve healthy and sustainable development, Tang said.
Local data shows 6,000 oil and gas enterprises have been registered in the pilot FTZ, with 320 billion yuan ($45.22bn) of oil products traded in 2019.
