(Bloomberg) — China will allow more oil refiners to process imported crude, opening the door for small, independent plants known as teapots to use an alternative feedstock. Refiners investing in overseas oil exploration or capable of advanced processing and pollution-treatment technology will have priority to use imported crude, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a Feb. 9 statement released on its website on Monday. To be eligible, plants must also have at least one crude distillation unit with a designed capacity of more than 2 million metric tons a year, it said. China, the world’s second-largest oil consumer, is widening access to crude supplies amid a global glut that’s driven benchmark prices to the lowest in almost six years. Teapot operators, which process mainly fuel oil, have for years sought to expand their options because it’s more profitable to process crude. China National Chemical Corp., or ChemChina, […]