China’s oil refineries ramped up throughput in June to the second highest on record, with some independent plants raising output even as state oil majors prepare to take drastic steps to cut production during the peak summer season. Throughput last month reached 46.08 million tonnes, or 11.21 million barrels per day (bpd), a 2.3-percent rise year-on-year and up from May’s 10.98 million bpd, data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed on Monday. That was just shy of December’s record volume of 11.26 million bpd. The higher throughput came after another month of strong crude oil imports and as top refineries prepared to cut output in the third quarter. “Refinery runs were impressive considering that refinery maintenance was still heavy,” said Nevyn Nah, analyst at Energy Aspects. Independent refiners, known as ‘teapots’, raised their runs after receiving additional crude import quotas, while oil majors kept […]