The Shanghai Futures Exchange (ShFE) on Friday said in a press release that Sinochem Energy Technology Corp and Yongan Capital Management were among the firms which purchased crude oil against the September contract.

The September delivery crude contract on the Shanghai International Energy Exchange (INE) expired on August 31, with five companies delivering crude oil through the exchange last week.

Total delivery of crude oil against the September contract was worth 293 million yuan ($42.84 million).

Sinopec's oil and gas trading arm Unipec is among the sellers of the delivery.

People familiar with the matter said in a previous Reuters report that 300,000 barrels of crude would be delivered to storage tanks in Zhanjiang, South China's Guangdong Province, 100,000 barrels to Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province and 201,000 barrels to Zhoushan's Cezi Island in East China's Zhejiang Province.

Foreign investors accounted for 15 percent of total open interests in crude oil futures compared with 5 percent in May, according to the ShFE press release.

September is the first contract to expire on the INE and investors have been keen to see whether the delivery process for the new crude futures, which started trading in March, will be smooth.

"In the following delivery process, we are watching the actual cost for buyers to transport the crude from tanks to their refinery," said Bruce Xue, a crude oil analyst with broker Haitong Futures.

The INE contract is the first yuan-denominated oil contract and is aimed at building a regional benchmark to reflect China's purchasing power in the crude market. 

The country is the world's biggest oil importer.

 China's crude oil imports rose 6.5 percent in August from a month earlier to their highest since May, customs data showed on Saturday.