China imported 10.08 million bpd of crude oil last month, up 11 percent on the year, customs data showed as cited by S&P Global Platts. This was the first time since April that imports topped 10 million barrels. On a monthly basis, however, the September imports were up by a modest 1 percent. Over the first nine months of the year, China’s average daily oil imports stood at 9.91 million barrels, S&P Global Platts also reported, up by a solid 9.7 percent from a year earlier. Exports, for their part, surged, but only in the oil product department. Chinese refiners are already producing more fuels than the domestic market needs and the resulting surge in exports is depressing refiners’ margins both at home and in neighboring countries. Nevertheless, refiners have chosen to make the best of their import quotas and produce all the fuels they can under them. Oil […]