China's teapots are filling up
Chinese authorities are giving independent refiners greater freedom to source their own supplies of crude oil
Until recently, China's Hengli Petrochemical was a little-known manufacturer of chemical fibres. But in May, the group, based in the Port of Dalian in northern China, leapt into prominence when the commerce ministry gave it approval to import 400,000 barrels a day of crude oil, the biggest-ever quota for a privately-owned "teapot" refinery. Overnight, the decision made Hengli an important buyer of Saudi Arabian crude oil. The first shipment, reportedly 2m spot barrels of medium crude, was being loaded in June and fed into Hengli's new refinery for trial runs. Clearly, the quota is directly connected to the refinery, which has a capacity of 400,000 b/d and is designed to process Saudi medium
Also in this section
15 May 2025
Financial problems, lack of exploration success and political dogma cause uncertainty across much of the region
14 May 2025
The invisible hand of the market has seen increasing transparency but much more needs to be done to build a better understanding
13 May 2025
A fall in Venezuelan output drives overall production lower, as Saudi Arabia starts to slowly bring more crude to the market
12 May 2025
With the gas industry’s staunchest advocates and opponents taking brutal blows, the sector looks like treading a path of insipid indifference
