Higher oil prices and a fuel glut in Asia are depressing refining margins, likely forcing China’s independent refiners to scale down crude oil processing rates in the third quarter, traders and analysts told Bloomberg . Earlier this year, at the peak lockdown in other countries, China’s independent refiners, the so-called ‘teapots’, gobbled up crude oil at ultra-low prices when they plunged in March and April. Chinese refiners boosted their run rates by 11 percent in April compared to March, as China began to emerge from the months-long lockdown. During the peak Chinese lockdown in February, refinery processing rates had slumped to their lowest level in six years. In the following months, refiners ramped up production and capacity utilization as demand began to recover. But now, oil at $40 – double from April’s lows – is weighing on refining margins, and teapots are widely expected to cut refinery runs. Industry […]