Asia is drowning in Chinese fuels and things are about to get worse over the next three years as new refining capacity in the world’s second-largest economy begins operating. There are several factors at play here, including the rise of the teapots, slowing economic growth and perhaps a not accurate enough forecast of future fuel demand trends in China. According to Bloomberg columnist David Fickling , the teapots—China’s independent, private refiners—are the main driver of the glut that is choking off Asian refiners’ margins and pressuring prices. Indeed, the emergence of independent refiners in China accounted for a large portion of the import surge we have witnessed in the direction of China in the past four years. The 2014 price crash certainly helped but, as Fickling notes, it’s teapots that have led the increase in imports while state oil companies have not changed their intake levels in any notable […]