China’s Opaque Oil Data Leaves Markets In The Dark

China saw its first-half crude imports drop year over year for the first time in a first half in eight years, sparking concerns in the market that purchases from the world’s largest oil importer may not be too supportive for oil in the coming months.  At the same time, Chinese fuel exports have been rising this past half-year due to record refinery run rates amid a glut of refined oil products.

  In recent months, Chinese refiners have been processing more crude than the apparent availability, calculated as the sum of imports and…