China’s independent refineries imported 18.16 million mt, or 4.3 million b/d, of crude and bitumen in January, a 35.1% on the month jump, as these privately-held companies started to actively discharge the oil off tankers that had been floating near Shandong ports since December 2020 as soon as the first batch of 2021 import quotas were granted late last year. The volume in January was the third highest on record, just below the historical high of 19.8 million mt recorded in July 2020 and the second-highest at 18.7 million mt in May 2020. On a year-on-year basis, the January imports represented a 25% growth from the 14.525 million mt in January […]