Chinese refiners processed a record daily amount of crude oil last month, Reuters reports , citing calculations based on Chinese statistical data. At a calculated 12.49 million bpd, the September run rate of Chinese refineries was more than 600,000 bpd higher than the August figure. The increase reflected an increase in crude oil imports, which hit a four-month high in September. Domestic production, on the other hand, declined by 2.4 percent to 3.69 million bpd. Nine-month production also declined, the statistical data showed, to 3.77 million bpd, down 1.9 percent. The news about the record-high September run rates bodes well for future demand after an extended period of falling imports and run rates amid summer maintenance season and adjustments to a new tax regime that has stripped teapot refiners of some tax incentives and hurt their bottom lines. As a result, in August the total refinery throughput in the […]