China’s demand for spot crude appears to be recovering after nearly five months of slower purchases caused by a shortage of import quotas, drawdowns from high inventories and COVID-19 lockdowns that muted Chinese fuel consumption. Softer buying since April by the world’s top crude importer and a drop in China’s refining output to 14-month lows in July have depressed the prices of staple crude grades from West Africa and Brazil to multi-month lows. read more But traders and analysts say Chinese importers are now increasing the pace of purchases and paying higher premiums to secure supplies from November onwards as lockdown restrictions ease. A sustained rebound in demand by China may tighten supplies and support global oil prices . LOCKDOWNS EASING Oil demand in the world’s No. 2 consumer looks to be on a recovery path as Beijing eases lockdown measures after largely containing […]