The factories, which buy cheap crude and turn it into fuel, are struggling as higher oil prices threaten their razor-sharp margins
T
he 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.
But its boss wasn’t worried about low footfall. Peak time was midnight, he said, when nearby oil refinery workers finish their shifts and rush out of the gated factory complexes nearby, which employ thousands of people.
