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April 1, 2015

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China oil demand dips, volume up

CHINA’S apparent oil demand in February contracted 1 percent year on year to 40.7 million tons, or an average 10.66 million barrels per day, according to the latest analysis of Chinese government data by global energy information provider Platts.

Despite the contraction, this was the second-highest monthly volume on record.

Following government revisions to year-ago data, China’s apparent oil demand in February 2014 was adjusted to an average 10.76 million bpd — the record-high volume.

Apparent oil demand in February this year increased 4.3 percent from January’s average of 10.22 million bpd.

China’s refinery throughput in February averaged 10.39 million bpd, falling 2.5 percent from a year earlier but expanded 2.4 percent month on month, data from the country’s National Bureau of Statistics released on March 13 showed.

General Administration of Customs data released on March 8 showed oil product imports for February rose 11.2 percent to 2.68 million tons, while oil product exports slumped 16.8 percent to 1.68 million tons, reflecting some inventory built by state-owned refiners. This led to net oil product imports of 1 million tons in February.

Over January to February, China’s total apparent oil demand rose 2.6 percent to average 10.43 million bpd. This is the highest rate of growth over the two-month period since the 5.7 percent recorded in 2012, in contrast to the 0.6 percent contraction seen over the same period of last year.

“While there appears to be some recovery, apparent demand is often strong during the first two months of the year,” said Song Yen Ling, Platts’ senior analyst for China.




 

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