Falling oil output, higher refining may support crude imports Coal imports may continue to rise to fill gap in supply China’s appetite for foreign energy is as strong as ever. Growing demand from oil refiners and the continued filling of strategic crude reserves in the face of domestic production declines will support crude buying by the world’s second-largest consumer, according to analysts from Energy Aspects Ltd. and ICIS China. Coal imports will continue to rise to help fill a supply gap left by a mining slowdown. “Crude buying will remain substantial in the second half” of the year, Michal Meidan, an analyst at Energy Aspects, said by e-mail. “This is because domestic output is declining and there will also be SPR fills of around 50 million to 60 million barrels.” Demand from the world’s largest energy consumer is a bright spot for energy markets hammered by oversupply. Oil has […]