China’s Oil Imports To Drop After Refinery Margins Near $0

Crude oil imports to China could fall by some 3 percent as a result of a government effort to reduce the output of fuels amid excess stocks, Reuters reports. As part of this effort, Beijing has asked PetroChina, the state-owned oil major, to stop trading off crude import quotas with independent refiners. The push to reduce fuel production comes as refining margins slip closer to zero—not just in China but in the rest of Asia, too. Margins fell from $1.65 per barrel in April to just $0.03 per barrel in the middle of May. Since then, the report…