Chinese crude imports were 10.21mn b/d in November, well up on October’s 3-year low of just 8.93mn b/d (MEES, 26 November).

The low October figure, however, appears to have largely been a function of that month’s week-long public holiday, and also the fact that the recently-expanded 800,000 b/d Zhejiang Petrochemical refinery south of Shanghai delayed unloading cargoes until it received import permits at the end of October. (CONTINUED - 191 WORDS)