Petchem storage Chinese growth of crude oil imports may likely shrink by more than 60 percent next year, as storage facilities are filling in and smaller refiners face more scrutiny over taxes and licenses, according to a Bloomberg survey of analysts. According to Energy Aspects analyst Michal Meidan, Chinese crude oil imports are expected to grow by 5 to 9 percent in 2017, compared to an estimated growth of 11 to 14 percent this year. According to customs data quoted by Bloomberg, Chinese imports increased by 14 percent to average 7.5 million bpd between January and November this year. The median estimate of 8 analysts in the survey showed that China would increase oil purchases by 4.8 percent on the year in 2017. In addition, China has been bumping up crude oil imports while port and pipeline infrastructure has not been keeping up with development fast enough, which could […]