Platts Report: China's September Oil Demand Reaches Lowest Level in 2011

SINGAPORE, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- China's apparent oil demand* in September grew just 3.1% year on year to 36.63 million metric tons (mt), or an average of 8.95 million barrels per day (b/d). This is the lowest level that the country's oil demand has reached this year, according to a Platts analysis based on crude oil statistics recently released by the Chinese government.

September was also the second straight month that China's oil demand has slipped to less than nine million b/d. This came on the back of reduced refinery runs due to heavy routine turnarounds and refinery incidents as well as declining demand for oil products.

In August, apparent oil demand was at 8.98 million b/d, the previous low of the year.

Apparent oil demand in the third quarter was the lowest so far this year at 8.99 million b/d, compared with 9.33 million b/d in Q1 and 9.23 million b/d in Q2.

"Refinery throughputs and net product imports declined due to scheduled maintenance and slowdown in demand for refined products," said Calvin Lee, Platts senior writer, China. "Chinese refineries are also reluctant to boost production too much because of depressed refining margins."

In September, crude throughput increased by 3.4% year on year to 36.1 million mt, or an average of 8.82 million b/d.

Several Chinese refineries with crude distillation unit (CDU) capacities of 200,822 b/d or more were shut for maintenance, including Sinopec's 200,822-b/d Luoyang refinery, the 281,151-b/d Sinopec Shanghai refinery, PetroChina's 321,315-b/d Dushanzi refinery and the 200,822-b/d PetroChina Qinzhou refinery.

In addition, any boost to China's total crude runs from a restart by PetroChina's 411,685--b/d Dalian refinery in early September after an earlier fire was canceled out by a reduction in crude throughput by the 226,929-b/d Sinopec Gaoqiao refinery following a fire at a secondary unit in late September.

At the same time, the country imported 1.1% less refined products in September compared with a year ago at 2.77 million mt. However, refined product exports increased 7.2% in September to 2.24 million mt.

Net product imports for September were at 0.53 million mt (0.13 million b/d) – the lowest this year.

September's net product imports were 14.5% less than a year ago and 57.3% less than the 1.24 million mt (0.29 million b/d) in August, as imports slumped due to the declining consumption for refined products.

According to a report published by the country's economic planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission, apparent consumption of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel grew only 3.2% year on year in Q3, compared with an increase of 5% in Q2 and a growth of 9.3% in Q1 over the year-ago periods.

The slowdown is attributed to a slowdown in car sales and a decline in demand growth in other economic sectors.

"Analysts expect Chinese refinery throughput to rebound to above nine million b/d from October onward with the completion of the refinery turnarounds. They also project China's overall oil demand to grow by about 6-7% for the entire year compared with 2010, which is still a pretty solid growth rate if you consider the current global macroeconomic environment," said Lee.

*Platts calculates China's apparent or implied oil demand on the basis of crude throughput volumes at the domestic refineries and net oil product imports, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics and Chinese customs.

The government releases data on imports, exports, domestic crude production and refinery throughput data, but does not give official data on the country's actual oil consumption figure and oil stockpiles. Official statistics on oil storage are released intermittently.

Platts releases its monthly calculation of China's apparent demand between the 18th and 26th of every month via press release and via its website. Any use of this information must be appropriately attributed to Platts.

For more information on crude oil, visit the Platts website at www.platts.com. For Chinese-language information on oil and the energy and metals markets, visit http://www.platts.cn/

About Platts: Founded in 1909, Platts is a leading global provider of energy, petrochemicals and metals information and a premier source of benchmark prices for the physical and futures markets.  Platts' news, pricing, analytics, commentary and conferences help customers make better-informed trading and business decisions and help the markets operate with greater transparency and efficiency.  Customers in more than 150 countries benefit from Platts' coverage of the carbon emissions, coal, electricity, oil, natural gas, metals, nuclear power, petrochemical, and shipping markets.  A division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), Platts is headquartered in New York with approximately 900 employees in more than 15 offices worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.platts.com.

About The McGraw-Hill Companies: Founded in 1888, The McGraw-Hill Companies is a leading global financial information and education company that helps professionals and students succeed in the Knowledge Economy.  With leading brands including Standard & Poor's, McGraw-Hill Education, Platts energy information services and J.D. Power and Associates, the Corporation has approximately 21,000 employees with more than 280 offices in 40 countries.  Sales in 2010 were $6.2 billion.  Additional information is available at http://www.mcgraw-hill.com.

SOURCE Platts

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED