Chinese independent refiners may be about to start reducing their processing rates as international oil prices rise and supply from major exporters such as Venezuela and Iran dries up as a result of U.S.
foreign policy decisions. “Teapots are unlikely to be able to afford a full shift to mainstream grades,” an Energy Aspects analyst said this week, as quoted by Bloomberg. The so-called teapots are more sensitive to adverse oil market changes due to their refining margins being slimmer than those of state-owned majors.
These margins…