China’s crude oil imports averaged more than 10 million bpd for the first time ever in November, as they beat the previous record for highest crude imports set in October, according to Chinese customs data, as carried by Reuters . Chinese crude oil imports surged to an all-time high of 10.43 million bpd last month, up by 8.5 percent compared to November 2017 and beating the previous record of 9.61 million bpd , which was set just a month earlier and was driven by smaller independent refiners who were rushing to fulfill their 2018 oil import quotas before they expire. In November, independent refiners—the so-called teapots—continued to buy high volumes and some of them increased intake as they start trial runs at newly-built oil refineries. Private firm Hengli is planning trials at its new 400,000 bpd refinery at Dalian, a port city in northeastern China, while Zhejiang Petrochemical is […]