China is inching closer to launching its first crude oil futures contract but it will happen only after the Lunar New Year holiday which ends on February 23, a government source with knowledge of the matter said. “Basically, there is no problem [for the crude contract] to get approval from the State Council,” the source said, but added that it was unlikely to be kicked off before the Lunar New Year. Approval from the State Council is the final hurdle in the launch of the medium sour crude futures contract. Once it is approved, the exchange will release the deliverable crude grades, differentials of the deliverable grades against the standard contract and the delivery venue, a source with host platform Shanghai International Energy Exchange said recently. “The exchange should officially release these details two weeks ahead of the launch in order to give enough time to inform the potential […]