China’s Ministry of Commerce is going to allow private companies and other “non-state entities” to buy 20% more oil next year in a move that will be enthusiastically welcomed by beleaguered oil-producing states, including many in Africa, currently suffering from persistently low prices.
The increased quota amounts to about 823,000 barrels per day of new demand, not a huge amount — around about as much as Algeria’s daily output — but in a market where most of the world’s major economies are in recession, even a modest bump like this can help lift prices from the current $35 per barrel.