China’s Teapot Refiners Poised to Ramp Up Iranian Oil Buying

AI Summary

Chinese independent refiners, known as teapots, are expected to increase their crude oil purchases from Iran amid historically low stockpiles in Shandong province. This trend comes amid ongoing Middle East conflict and fluctuating international oil prices.

China’s independent refiners are likely to return to buying higher volumes of Iran’s crude oil this month as stockpiles in Shandong, home to the independent Chinese refiners, have dropped to the lowest level this year after the biggest estimated monthly draw in a decade. For most of the Middle East conflict, now in its sixth month, China’s independent refiners, the so-called teapots, have drawn on their reserves and limited purchases and imports amid spiking international crude oil prices and what appears to have been an unofficial…