China's Private Oil Refiners Are Too Powerful For Beijing

In a dramatic reversal of fortunes, Beijing has announced huge cutbacks in import quotas for the country's private oil refiners. According to Reuters, China's independent refiners have been awarded a combined 35.24 million tons in crude oil import quotas in the second batch of quotas this year, a 35% reduction from 53.88 million tons for a similar tranche a year ago. The big reduction has come as part of a government crackdown on private Chinese refiners known as teapots, who have become increasingly dominant over the past five years. This is intended…