| Measures for the Administration of the Crude Oil Market
Promulgated by the Ministry of Commerce on December 4, 2006
and effective as of January 1, 2007
Chapter I General Provisions
Article 1 In order to enhance the administration of the crude oil market, regulate the business operation of crude oil, maintain the order of the crude oil market and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the crude oil enterprises and consumers, we hereby formulate the present Measures under the Decision of the State Council Concerning Establishing Administrative License for the Administrative Examination and Approval Items That Really Need to Be Preserved (Order No.412 of the State Council) and the related laws and administrative regulations.
Article 2 Those engaging in the crude oil business activities within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall comply with the related laws and regulations and the present Measures.
The term "crude oil enterprises" as mentioned in the present Measures refers to the enterprises that engage in the crude oil distribution or storage.
Article 3 The state applies a licensing system to the crude oil business activities.
The Ministry of Commerce shall take responsibility to draft the laws and regulations for the administration of the crude oil market, draw up ministerial regulations and organize the implementation thereof, and supervise and administer the nationwide crude oil market subject to law. The administrative departments of commerce of the people's governments at each level shall take responsibility to organize and coordinate the supervision and administration of the crude oil business activities within their respective jurisdiction.
Article 4 The term "crude oil" as mentioned in the present Measures refers to the crude oil exploited and produced within the territory of the People's Republic of China or the sea areas under the jurisdiction of the People's Republic of China and the imported crude oil.
Chapter II Application for Crude Oil Business License and Its Acceptance
Article 5 For the purpose of applying for the qualification for engaging in the distribution or storage of crude oil, an enterprise shall submit an application to the administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government of the place where it is located, which shall examine and report the preliminary examination opinions along with the application materials to the Ministry of Commerce, which shall decide whether to grant a license of crude oil distributing or storing or not.
Article 6 For the purpose of applying for the qualification to distribute crude oil, an enterprise shall satisfy the conditions as follows:
(1) The applicant shall be a Chinese legal person with a registered capital of at least 100 million yuan;
(2) It shall have secular and steady channels to provide crude oil;
(a) It is a crude oil exploitation enterprise that has obtained a Petroleum Mining License upon the approval of the State Council and has actual output; or
(b) It is an import enterprise that has obtained the qualification to import crude oil and its annual import volume is at least 500,000 tons; or
(c) It is an enterprise that has signed, with either of the enterprises as stipulated above in (a) or (b), an crude oil supply agreement for one year or more that matches its business scale.
(3) It shall have secular, steady and legal channels to distribute crude oil;
(4) It shall have a crude oil depot whose capacity shall not be smaller than 200,000 steres and whose construction shall comply with the local municipal planning and oil depot layout planning; and the related departments in charge of land and resources, planning and construction, safety and supervision, public security and fire-fighting, environmental protection, meteorology and quality inspection, etc. shall have checked and accepted the depot.
Article 7 An enterprise that applies for the qualification to store crude oil shall satisfy the conditions as follows:
(1) The applicant shall be a Chinese legal person with a registered capital of at least 50 million yuan;
(2) It shall have a crude oil depot whose capacity shall not be smaller than 500,000 steres and whose construction shall comply with the local municipal planning and oil depot layout planning; and the related departments in charge of land and resources, planning and construction, safety supervision, public security and fire-fighting, environmental protection, meteorology and quality inspection, etc. shall have checked and accepted the depot; and
(3) It shall be equipped such facilities to unload crude oil as conduit pipes, special railway lines or ports for transporting crude oil on water and its capacity shall be larger than 50,000 tons.
Article 8 In order to establish a foreign-funded crude oil enterprise, the present Measures, the related state policies and the provisions of the laws and regulations concerning foreign investment shall be complied with.
Article 9 An enterprise that applies for the qualification of distributing crude oil shall submit the documents as follows:
(1) An application;
(2) Legal instruments and the related materials concerning its secular and steady crude oil supply;
(3) Legal instruments and the related materials concerning its secular, steady and legal channels for crude oil distribution;
(4) The property right certificate of its crude oil depot and the supporting facilities; and the approval certificates and acceptance documents concerning the depot and other facilities released by the departments responsible for land and resources, planning and construction, safety supervision, public security and fire-fighting, environmental protection, meteorology and quality inspection, etc.;
(5) Business License for Enterprise Legal Person or Circular for Advance Approval of Enterprise Name as released by the department of industry and commerce;
(6) Hazardous Chemical Business License as released by the department of safety supervision;
(7) Approval Certificate of Foreign-Funded Enterprise of the People's Republic of China as for a foreign-funded enterprise; and
(8) Other documents required by the examination and verification organs.
Article 10 An enterprise that applies for the qualification of storing crude oil shall submit the documents as follows:
(1) Application document;
(2) The property right certificate of its crude oil depot and the supporting facilities; and the approval certificates and acceptance documents concerning the depot and other facilities as released by the departments responsible for land and resources, planning and construction, safety supervision, public security and fire-fighting, environmental protection, meteorology and quality inspection, etc.;
(3) Certificates of the property rights of such facilities to unload crude oil as conduit pipes, special railway lines or ports for transporting crude oil on water with capacity of more than 50,000 tons
(4) Business License for Enterprise Legal Person or Circular for Advance Approval of Enterprise Name as released by the department of industry and commerce;
(5) Hazardous Chemical Business License released by the department of safety supervision;
(6) Approval Certificate of Foreign-Funded Enterprise of the People's Republic of China as for a foreign-funded enterprise; and
(7) Other documents required by the organs of examination and verification.
Article 11 The conditions, procedures, time limit, list of the materials to be submitted, and model of application letter for applying for license of crude oil distributing or storing shall be publicized at their work places by the administrative departments of commerce at or above the provincial level.
Article 12 In case an administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government that accepts an application considers that the application materials are not complete or fail to be in line with the related provisions, it shall notify the applicant, once and for all, of all the content that needs to be supplemented or corrected within five workdays since receiving the application. When the time limit expires and if it fails to notify the applicant, the application shall be deemed as having been accepted since the date when the application materials are received.
Article 13 If the application materials are complete and comply with the stipulated form, or if the applicant has supplemented or corrected all the application materials as required, the administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government shall accept the application.
In case an administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government accepts an application, a written certificate bearing the special seal of this administrative organ and an indication of the date shall be produced by it. In case it rejects an application, it shall produce a written certificate, which bears the special seal of this administrative organ, explains the reasons for the rejection and indicates the date, and shall also inform the applicant of the right to apply for administrative reconsideration or to file an administrative lawsuit.
Chapter III Procedures and Time Limit
of Crude Oil Distribution or Storage Licensing Examination
Article 14 Within 20 workdays since receiving an application for distributing or storing crude oil submitted by an applicant, an administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government shall finish the examination and report the preliminary examination opinion and application materials to the Ministry of Commerce.
Article 15 The Ministry of Commerce shall, within 20 workdays since receiving the application materials of the crude oil enterprise reported by the administrative department of commerce of the provincial people's government, finish the examination and verification. In case the application meets the conditions prescribed in Article 6 of the present Measures, it shall grant a license for the distribution of crude oil and release a Certificate of Approval for the Distribution of Crude Oil; in case the application meets the conditions prescribed in Article 7 of the present Measures, it shall grant a license for the storage of crude oil and release a Certificate of Approval for the Storage of Crude Oil. In case the application fails to meet the related conditions, it shall inform the applicant in written form of the decision of disapproval, the reasons and the right to apply for administrative reconsideration or to file an administrative lawsuit.
Upon the strength of the Approval Certificate for the Distribution of Crude Oil or the Approval Certificate for the Storage of Crude Oil as issued by the Ministry of Commerce, an enterprise shall implement the registration procedures at the administrative department for industry and commerce and the tax administration.
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