China’s crude oil imports dropped in May from a monthly record in April, as Chinese refiners drastically reduced Iranian oil imports after the end of the U.S. waivers and as some state refineries were offline for planned maintenance. According to data from China’s General Administration of Customs, reported by Reuters , Chinese crude oil imports fell by 8 percent from 43.73 million tons in April to 40.23 million tons in May. This, converted in barrels per day, is an 11-percent drop from April to May, to average 9.47 million bpd last month, according to Reuters estimates. According to Seng Yick Tee, an analyst with Beijing-based consultancy SIA Energy, the key reason for the lower Chinese crude oil imports in May was the sharp drop in imports from Iran as the U.S. ended all sanction waivers for Iranian customers on May 2, including for Iran’s biggest oil buyer China. In […]