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HOUSTON (Reuters) - China’s proposed tariffs on U.S. petroleum imports, part of a mounting trade war between the two countries, would crimp sales to the shale industry’s largest customer, adding new pressure on U.S. crude prices, energy executives and analysts said in interviews this week. China has said it would slap a 25 percent tariff on imports of U.S. crude, natural gas and coal on July 6 if Washington went ahead, as planned, with its own tariffs on Chinese goods that day. Energy would be added for the first time to a burgeoning trade dispute that has hit imports of Chinese metals and solar panels, and exports of U.S. medical equipment and soybeans. Targeting petroleum puts the Trump administration’s “energy dominance” agenda in Beijing’s cross-hairs as U.S. shale has grabbed share from Middle East suppliers in Asia. China is the largest customer for U.S. crude, importing about 363,000 barrels a day in the six months ended in March. Thomson Reuters shipping data shows those exports have increased since, rising to an expected 450,000 bpd in July. “It is going to hurt everyone for the short term,” said Ron Gasser, vice president at Mammoth Exploration, a west Texas shale producer. While U.S. crude will continue flowing to market even with tariffs, “it’ll force you to put your oil somewhere else, and it’ll cost you more” to line up other buyers. U.S. oil exports have steadily grown since the four-decade-old ban on crude exports was lifted at the end of 2015. China’s tariff threat caught U.S. producers off guard because it had been discussing buying more U.S. energy and agricultural products to reduce its $375 billion trade surplus with the United States. The levies could boost suppliers of West African crude at the expense of U.S. exports. The tariffs are “creating a whole new set of uncertainties on top of what’s already there,” Daniel Yergin, vice chairman of consultancy IHS Markit, said on Tuesday as he arrived in Vienna to attend this week’s OPEC’s International Seminar. On Friday, OPEC oil ministers will gather to consider sharply increasing the group’s production this year, a move advanced forth by Saudi Arabia and Russia. The change is opposed by members Algeria, Iran, Iraq and Venezuela. The United States also recently set new sanctions on Iran’s petroleum industry, which is expected to disrupt oil flows. “The global oil industry didn’t really worry or think about trade issues. Now, trade issues are moving really pretty fast up the agenda,” said Yergin. The impact likely would be temporary as U.S. oil becomes less attractive to Chinese buyers. But the tit-for-tat expansion of tariffs has U.S. oil industry officials and politicians calling on the Trump administration to move cautiously. The American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers Association on Tuesday called on the president “to work with China - and all nations - to reduce barriers to competition rather than promote them.” U.S. Senator Michael Enzi, Republican of Wyoming, a coal and oil producing state, wants the administration to be “wary of how these retaliatory measures from China could seriously impact the industry,” spokesman Max D’Onofrio said on Monday. In coal country, there are worries the trade war could harm exports, said Steve Roberts, president of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce. “China is an enormously important trading partner,” he said. Some U.S. producers said growing demand for U.S. energy would overcome the impact of China’s tariffs just as higher oil prices this year have not slowed the global thirst for oil and natural gas. Gary C. Evans, chief executive of shale producer Energy Hunter Resources, called the tariffs “a lot of saber rattling” that will not hurt exports of U.S. crude oil or liquefied natural gas, the latter a fuel that China has not included on its list of products facing a tariff. “Crude oil is a fungible global commodity,” Evans said. “Without growing U.S. crude supply and exports, global prices could today be multiples higher than they currently are.” Reporting by Collin Eaton and Liz Hampton in Houston and Ernest Scheyder in Vienna; additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington and Devika Krishna Kumar; Writing by Gary McWilliams; Editing by Richard Chang.

China’s independent oil refiners are suffering a drastic change of fortune as new tax rules, shrinking diesel demand and higher crude prices threaten their nearly three-year profit bonanza. Industry executives and analysts said nearly 40 private refiners, often called “teapots” - which account for a fifth of China’s almost 10 million barrels per day (bpd) in crude oil imports - are losing money and market share. Several have shut for maintenance to cut exposure to the market, and some teapots may have to shut for good if the conditions continue. “The gains in retail prices at pumps in recent weeks have been completely wiped out by higher costs of crude and a hefty consumption tax,” said Gao Jian, crude oil analyst with China Sublime Information Group. “We expect much weaker margins in June and July as more orders booked at peak crude prices arrive,” Gao said. Asian refining margins have thinned as crude prices LCOc1 surged amid output cuts led by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), Venezuela supply disruptions and looming U.S. sanctions against major exporter Iran. SPONSORED But China’s independents have also been hit hard by new tax rules that cut even further into their profit. Last month, teapots lost 300 yuan ($46.80) per ton of crude oil processed, data provided by Zibo Longzong Information Group showed. That is a stunning reversal from a profit of 900 yuan a ton in early 2016. Beijing enacted new rules in March to enforce collection of a $38 per barrel gasoline consumption tax and a $29 per barrel tax on diesel, a response to the alleged use of illicit fuel invoices by many of the teapots to evade the taxes. The teapots’ plight throws into sharp relief the performances of their state rivals, including top refiners PetroChina (601857.SS) and Sinopec (600028.SS), where 2018 profits so far are running at their best in two or more years. State refiners have to pay the consumption tax as well, but their massive local marketing networks and control of China’s fuel exports help to offset the domestic market pressures.

Sour brew: New tax rules take steam out of China's teapot refiners TROUBLES FOR TEAPOTS The teapots’ influence and size has grown significantly since they began winning crude import licenses in 2015. Last year was a blockbuster, as they churned out record earnings, expanded into petrochemicals and beefed up trading teams. This year, in contrast, has been one of deepening trouble, with several teapots shutting for maintenance to avoid losses. Jincheng Petrochemical Co launched a month of maintenance in May at its 5.9 million-tonne-per-year (118,000 bpd) refinery, after losing money on rising crude prices since late March, said a marketing manager with the refinery, declining to be named due to company policy. At an oil trade show late last month in Dongying in Shandong province, home to many teapots, sales managers from more than 20 independents were jostling about trying to sell fuel to major trading firms, state refiners and other teapots. Several, including Wudi Xinyue Fuel and Chemicals Co and Fuhai Group, plan to keep product inventories low, fearing that domestic oversupply could further dampen fuel prices, according to interviews with sales managers at the trade show. “We barely keep any inventory for diesel and gasoline. There are more uncertainties in the market with more refineries coming online this year,” said an executive with a teapot in Dongying. Others like the Haike Group were retreating from the northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, where last year’s strong sales were not repeating. Haike is instead focusing on areas around Shandong in the east, an executive with the group said. To view a graphic on China's monthly gasoline and diesel demand, click: reut.rs/2JMKljc Reuters Graphic STRUGGLE AGAINST STATE MAJORS State refiners have access to a surging export market, and dominate China’s retail fuel market, making it easier for them to pass higher crude costs and tax burdens on to consumers. Teapots, however, have to offer more competitive prices and their margins are much thinner. Several independent refiners, including Shandong Zhonghai Fine Chemical Group, Guangrao Kelida Petrochemicals Technology and ChemChina’s Huaxing Petrochemical, said PetroChina and Sinopec were paying for products only at steep discounts to market values and were also reducing purchases. A manager at Kelida, a major supplier of asphalt to PetroChina, said his firm was now struggling to break even compared with a 400 yuan a tonne profit last year. “Wholesale prices offered by PetroChina are so cheap that we will be running at a loss,” the manager said, declining to be named because he is not authorized to speak to media. Zhonghai Fine Chemical, with 2.3 million tonnes a year in crude processing capacity, said Sinopec was ordering far less fuel than last year. “Sinopec has halted buying diesel from us this year. Last year the volume was at least 10,000 tonnes each month,” a manager said, also declining to be named. Teapot managers said they are urging the government to give them leeway in paying the consumption taxes. “We urged the government to reconsider the tax policies. Otherwise some of us are going to fail,” said a manager with ChemChina Huaxing refinery. Sinopec declined to comment on its purchase plans, and PetroChina did not respond to inquiries.