Beijing has told Chinese state refiners to consider suspending exports of gasoline and diesel in April as the Ukraine war sparks supply concerns, three sources with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

The pause, during a peak refinery maintenance season in Asia, could further tighten fuel supplies.

Global oil prices climbed to 14-year highs LCOc1 after western sanctions disrupted crude and oil products exports from Russia. Refining margins for several oil products in Asia hit all-time highs on Wednesday.

China had already reduced refined fuel exports by a third in the first two months of the year after Beijing in January cut export quotas to discourage plants from over-processing.

“This is to prevent a shortage as independent refiners are under big pressure to lower throughput in the face of soaring crude oil prices,” one source with knowledge of the discussions said.

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Source: Reuters (Reporting by Chen Aizhu, Muyu Xu and Florence Tan; Additional reporting by Koustav Samanta and Mohi Narayan; Editing by Louise Heavens and Barbara Lewis)