Crude pipelines have been shut-off in the eastern Chinese oil hub of Qingdao pending safety checks a day after a leak triggered a huge explosion that killed 47 people, a refinery official and state media said on Saturday. Qingdao is one of China’s largest crude oil import terminals, supplying at least two major Sinopec Corp refineries – the Qingdao plant and Sinopec Qilu Petrochemical Corp – as well as many small, independent refineries. An official at the Qilu refinery said the city government had halted the flow of oil in all of the city’s pipelines for safety inspections, which meant crude deliveries to all refineries in the city were temporarily cut off. Qilu has not stopped refining nor reduced production but it was now drawing down its crude inventories, which will last about four to five days, the official said by telephone from Shandong province. Qilu […]