China's Ministry of Commerce will issue quotas totalling 53.88 million tonnes (393.32 million barrels), said the sources, who said they have seen documents outlining the allocations.

The new quotas are the top-up volumes for the first batch of 2020 quotas that were granted at the end of last year of 103.83 million tonnes.

A total of 36 companies, including 31 independent refiners and five trading entities that are affiliated to state-run companies, are expected to receive the second batch of crude import quotas, the sources said.

Private refinery Hengli Petrochemical Co Ltd is set to receive a quota of 8 million tonnes and Zhejiang Petrochemical Corp may receive 9.6 million tonnes, according to company officials.

The refiners have yet to receive the official quota release from the Commerce Ministry, but the release could come within a few days, the sources said.

The ministry did not respond to a faxed request seeking comment.

Non-state crude oil import quotas for the whole year of 2020 were set at 202 million tonnes, the ministry said in November.

(1 tonne = 7.3 barrels for crude oil)

(Reporting By Shu Zhang and Chen Aizhu in SINGAPORE, Muyu Xu in BEIJING; Editing by Louise Heavens and Christian Schmollinger)