Chinese authorities have ordered a unit of state-run PetroChina to stop trading off crude oil import quotas with local refineries as part of a crackdown on excessive fuel production, a move that could cut the country’s crude imports by 3%, sources said. Beijing has stepped up scrutiny of crude oil quota use and imports by state and private firms this year to ease a fuel surplus that has weighed on the sector’s profits and led to excess emissions that have undermined China’s climate goals, said five industry sources with knowledge of the matter. PetroChina Fuel Oil Co Ltd is a major crude oil supplier to China’s independent refineries. Without additional quotas from the company, crude purchases by the independent refineries, also known as teapots, will fall by 12 million to 16 million tonnes annually […]