*

14 million metric ton quota for diesel, jet fuel and

gasoline

*

4 million metric ton quota for marine fuel

*

State-owned refiners account for more than 70% for second

batch

(Updates with detail)

By Trixie Yap and Andrew Hayley

May 7 (Reuters) - China has issued its second batch of

refined fuel export quotas for 2024, totalling 18 million metric

tons, Chinese consultancies and trade sources said on Tuesday.

The volume is 2 million tons more than the second batch

issued last year and could boost fuel supplies and further

depress refining margins in Asia.

The export volumes, comprising 14 million tons of refined

products and 4 million tons of marine fuel, were allotted

primarily to state-owned refiners, according to consultancies

Longzhong and JLC and the trade sources.

The new quota brings this year's total for exports of

refined and marine fuels to 45 million tons, following the first

27-million-ton batch issued at the start of January.

"The increased volume year on year is likely due to higher

demand for jet fuel from the aviation bunkering sector, which is

also counted as exports," Emma Li, an analyst at shiptracking

firm Vortexa said.

China could also issue smaller batches for the rest of the

year to avoid a large year-on-year rise, she added.

March exports for the aviation fuel were near a four-year

high, customs data showed, while traders expect May shipments to

breach the 2 million ton level again.

Beijing manages its refined oil exports via a strict quota

system, using exports as a tool to balance and ensure the

domestic market is sufficiently supplied.

State oil companies Sinopec and PetroChina

, the top recipients of the quotas that cover diesel,

gasoline and aviation fuel, together were granted 9.98 million

tons or more than 70% of the total, according to the two

consultancies.

Private refiner Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp was allotted

1.22 million tons, while a refinery subsidiary of state defence

conglomerate Norinco and China National Aviation Fuel Company

were assigned 230,000 tons in total.

China's Ministry of Commerce did not immediately respond to

a faxed request for comment.