China’s March crude oil imports climbed from a month earlier to the second highest on record, calculated on a daily basis, as refiners replenished stocks on generous government quotas and ahead of peak maintenance season. March shipments came in at 39.17 million tonnes, or 9.22 million barrels per day (bpd), the General Administration of Customs said on Friday. That compared with 8.41 million bpd in February, and January’s record 9.57 million bpd. Imports for the first quarter grew 7 percent from a year ago to 112.07 million tonnes, or about 9.09 million bpd. That marked an increase of nearly 595,000 bpd on average compared with the same period in 2017. The first-quarter growth was fueled by higher government quotas for independent plants. But a new tax regulation […]