China's oil 'wolves' in danger of becoming 'sheep'

Singapore

CHINA'S independent refiners burst onto the international oil market scene only a couple of years ago and lifted the nation past the US as the world's No 1 crude buyer. Now, a new generation of firms building some of the globe's biggest plants are threatening to eclipse them.

The original set of private processors, known as teapots, is clustered in the eastern Shandong province, and operate relatively small refineries that pump out fuels such as petrol and diesel. By contrast, the budding giants supported by the regional governments in Zhejiang and Liaoning will focus on making petrochemicals - the building blocks of everything from sportswear to soda cans and Star Wars figures.