Chinese refiners are setting their eyes on Australia as a new destination for gasoline exports, as they crank up production of the motor fuel to meet rising domestic demand, industry sources said.

Investments by refiners to produce cleaner fuels as part of a national drive to curb domestic vehicle emissions has meant some are now able to meet stringent Australian specifications, opening up a new and potentially growing market.

State-owned PetroChina sold a rare gasoline cargo which is compatible with Australian specifications to Chevron Corp last month, a source close to the matter said.

“They are most likely shipping it to Australia as otherwise there is no point paying up the premium for the special grade,” said the source, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

It was not clear how much Chevron paid for the cargo, but traders said it was sold at a high premium.

PetroChina, China’s top gasoline exporter, is currently able to produce a maximum of about 30,000 tonnes a month of gasoline that is able to meet Australian specifications, the source said, equivalent to about one medium-sized tanker load.

China’s West Pacific Petrochemical Corp, or WEPEC, will be able to produce Australian grade gasoline from May, once it starts a new gasoline-making continuous catalytic reformer unit, a second source close to the matter said.

Top Chinese refiner Sinopec Corp is also able to produce gasoline meeting Australian specifications, a third source said, although it has yet to export to Australia.

Some Sinopec refineries are already producing fuel with a low 10 parts-per-million (ppm) sulphur for domestic use, ahead of plans to adopt this as standard in China by 2018, the source said.

Australia has more stringent specifications for fuel than other countries in Asia, requiring a lower sulphur content than many countries and lower reid vapour pressure (rvp) which measures fuel volatility, traders said.

The country is expected to boost gasoline imports as super-sized Asian refineries have made the local industry increasingly uncompetitive. BP plans to close its 102,000 barrels per day Bulwer refinery in May.

Australia imported about 380,000 tonnes of gasoline in January this year, its highest level since December, 2011, latest official statistics showed.

Imports come mainly from South Korea and Singapore and some volumes from India, traders said.

China exported nearly 4.983 million tonnes of gasoline last year, up 6 percent from a year earlier, customs data showed, with most cargoes going to Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Chinese export data shows a cargo of 31,488 tonnes was shipped to Australia in February last year, although traders said they were not aware of any shipments. Official Australian data showed no gasoline imports from China in 2014.

Chevron, PetroChina, Sinopec and WEPEC could not immediately be reached for official comment.