China has allowed a second batch of crude oil import quotas for independent refiners and some state-held companies for 2017, setting full-year quotas at a total of 91.73 million tons, or 1.83 million bpd, according to a document by China’s Ministry of Commerce obtained by Reuters . In January this year, China issued the first batch of quotas for non-state refiners, which totaled 68.81 million tons , refining sources told Reuters back then. As many as 29 companies, including independent refiners—the so-called teapots—and trading firms, were granted quotas, the refining sources noted, quoting an official document by the Chinese authorities. Late last year, China’s Ministry of Commerce had said that the quota for non-state refiners would be kept at 87.6 million tons, or 1.75 million bpd this year, flat compared to 2016. Now the second batch of the 2017 import quotas is set at 22.92 million tons, and included […]