China’s May crude oil imports eased away from record highs hit the month before, customs data showed, with state-run refineries entering planned maintenance and some independent plants told to curb operations ahead of a summit at a key port city. May shipments were 39.05 million tonnes, or 9.2 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data released on Friday by the General Administration of Customs. That compared to 9.6 million bpd in April and 8.76 million bpd in May, 2017. Imports for the first five months of 2018 were 190 million tonnes, customs said, without giving a comparison. Based on last year’s figures, the year-to-date levels represent an increase of 7.8 percent over a year earlier. Sinopec Shanghai Petrochemical, Sinopec Yangzi and PetroChina’s […]