China’s ‘teapot’ oil refineries keep economy brewing – but surging crude prices leave them strained

The factories, which buy cheap crude and turn it into fuel, are struggling as higher oil prices threaten their razor-sharp margins

The towns that are the bulwark of China’s energy security can, at a moment of global crisis, appear deceptively quiet. Trucks carrying oil trundle along wide-open highways that have little traffic, while a few boarded-up shops in crumbling low-rise buildings hint at a long-forgotten local buzz.

A ramshackle noodle shop serving hand-pulled ribbons of dough was empty at lunchtime, save for a few construction workers and a teacher watching videos on Douyin, the social media platform, with his meal.