mo4ch:>China ramps up crude oil imports despite Washington’s clampdown on Iran | Mo4ch News

Oil imports by China unexpectedly surged in April to a record despite refinery maintenance outages and tepid domestic fuel demand, according to data from the Chinese General Administration of Customs.Imports amounted to 43.73 million tons of crude or 10.64 million barrels per day (bpd), customs data showed. That compared with 9.26 million bpd in March and was up 11 percent from the April 2018 level, according to Reuters calculations.“The crude imports exceeded our expectations as both domestic refinery production and margins do not appear to support such high volumes of purchases,” said Wang Zhao, head of crude oil research at Sublime China Information.Also on rt.comUnited States to end sanction waivers for countries importing Iranian oil“We may see stockpiles rising as state-run refiners pre-stocked supplies in April from Iran and the United States anticipating the impact of sanctions,” he added.Data from Refinitiv showed that China’s crude oil imports from Iran rose to 24 million ba…