Singapore (Platts)- China’s independent teapot refineries in eastern Shandong province have significantly expanded their capacities in the last few years ahead of an end-2013 deadline set by the government to eliminate smaller plants. In an effort to cool overheated growth and promote efficient use of resources in the sector, Beijing had mandated the closure of small plants in the independent refining sector in the last few years. It originally wanted teapot refineries with under 1 million mt/year (20,082 b/d) of topping capacity to shut by the end of 2011, but intensified this in March of the same year by decreeing further consolidation, mandating the closure of refineries with crude distillation capacity under 2 million mt/year by the end of 2013. Article continues below… Request a free trial of: Oilgram News Oilgram News Oilgram News brings you fast-breaking global petroleum and gas news on and including: Industry […]