China Relaxes Rules For Teapot Refiners

In a rather unexpected move, China raised the crude oil import
quotas for “non state trade”—basically for independent refiners—by
55 percent for 2018 compared to 2017, signaling that it could be
relaxing the rules for the so-called teapots and giving them more
share of China’s oil imports. China’s Ministry of Commerce not only
issued larger quotas, but made the announcement earlier than
expected. Non-state companies now can begin applying for 2018 crude
oil import quotas for a total of 142.42 million tons, or…

In a rather unexpected move, China raised the crude oil import
quotas for “non state trade”—basically for independent refiners—by
55 percent for 2018 compared to 2017, signaling that it could be
relaxing the rules for the so-called teapots and giving them more
share of China’s oil imports. China’s Ministry of Commerce not only
issued larger quotas, but made the announcement earlier than
expected. Non-state companies now can begin applying for 2018 crude
oil import quotas for a total of 142.42 million tons, or…