* China issues 52.66 mln T crude imports quotas to 36 refiners

* Total quotas issued for 2022 so far at 161.69 mln T

SINGAPORE, June 28 (Reuters) - China has issued 52.66 million tonnes of crude oil import quotas to non-state refiners in a second batch of allotments for 2022, up 49% from the same slot last year, four people with knowledge of the matter said.

The new allowances bring China's total non-state import quotas to 161.69 million tonnes so far this year, compared to 157.83 million tonnes during the same period of 2021.

Thirty-six refiners have been granted the quotas, with mega-refinery Zhengjiang Petroleum & Chemical Corp and Hengli Petrochemical receiving the most, at 10 million tonnes and 6 million tonnes respectively.

The issue comes as independent refiners snap up discounted crude from Russia and crank up output as COVID-19 restrictions ease.

Independent refiners, also known as teapots, typically go after cheap cargoes in the spot market as they lack the credit needed for long-term contracts with suppliers.

Russian crude has been priced at a steep discount since Russia invaded Ukraine in February, as some buyers eschewed Russian barrels.

China's crude oil imports from Russia soared 55% in May from a year earlier to a record level. Beijing has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Ministry of Commerce, which is in charge of the quota allocation, did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside office hours.

The amount of new quotas issued is in line with expectations, given demand is coming back, said one of the sources.

Operational rates at China's independent refiners rebounded to more than 65% last week from below 50% in April, when cities in eastern China were under COVID lockdowns. Analysts and traders expect run rates to reach around 70% by end-June.

The new quota will allow China to take more crude cargoes from the already tight global market, further driving up prices.

But traders said the second batch of quotas would conclude the majority of the allotment for 2022, with only a small amount of quotas coming out in the second half.

China has set total crude import quotas for non-state companies in 2022 at 243 million tonnes, the same level as initially planned for 2021. (Reporting by Muyu Xu, Florence Tan and Chen Aizhu; Editing by Louise Heavens and Jan Harvey)