The number, size, level of sophistication and roles played by China’s independent, or so-called “teapot” refineries, are changing. Their evolution is reflected in the relationships between teapots and Middle East crude oil suppliers. In the battle to ensure their profitability and very survival, smaller Chinese teapots have adopted various measures, including sopping up steeply discounted oil from Iran. Meanwhile, Middle East suppliers, notably Saudi Aramco, are seeking to lock in Chinese crude demand while pursuing new opportunities for further investments in integrated downstream projects led by both private and state-owned companies.
The average utilization rate of China’s four state-owned refiners fell from 84% in August to 82% in September, while independent refiners also cut run rates by two percentage points. As a result, the country’s crude throughput is likely to fall further from the 15-month low of 58.35 million mt in August, data from the National .
China’s four oil giants lifted their average utilization rate to a 19-month high of 84% in August as plants returned from maintenance, in line with the expectation that the state-run refineries would compensate for the throughput cut by their independent peers. While independent refineries were expected to cut utilization rate in the second half of .
REFINERY NEWS ROUNDUP: China s July oil product exports fall on quota shortages hellenicshippingnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from hellenicshippingnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Japan ENEOS shut its sole crude distillation unit at the 120,000 b/d Marifu refinery in western Japan on June 22 after a fire, a company official said. The fire broke out around 8:55 pm local time June 20 from a 27,000 b/d continuous catalytic reformer, and the CCR and some desulfurization units were shut right after the fire. “We are shutting down all units [for safety reasons],” the company official said, adding that it was not immediately clear when the company would be able to restart those units. Japan’s ENEOS restarted the sole 141,000 b/d crude distillation unit at its Sakai refinery in western Japan on June 24 after completing scheduled maintenance, a spokesperson said June 28.