March 12, 2026 [Reuters]- China has rejected a request by refining major Sinopec to access 13 million ​metric tons (95 million barrels) of national commercial ‌reserves to offset an expected supply gap as the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran threatens Middle East exports, ​two sources said this week.

Sinopec, the ​world’s biggest refiner by capacity, relies on ⁠the Middle East for nearly 60% of ​its total crude oil imports of roughly 4 ​million barrels per day, according to industry estimates.

The volume Sinopec sought equates to roughly 19 days of ​its crude processing, or 40 days of ​imports from the Middle East, including regular shipments from Saudi ‌Arabia ⁠and Kuwait under annual supply agreements.

Beijing also told refiners that oil in China’s strategic petroleum reserve – the emergency stockpile it built before expanding ​its holdings ​to include ⁠commercial reserves – is off-limits for release for now, said the two ​people and several other sources.

China’s National ​Food ⁠and Strategic Reserves Administration declined to comment, citing confidentiality.

Sinopec declined comment.

China has around 900 million barrels ⁠in strategic ​inventories, or 78 days’ ​worth of imports, according to estimates by Vortexa and traders.