China’s crude runs hit another record high in September - JLC

China’s daily crude throughput hit another record high in September amid less refinery maintenance work and growing fuel demand, reported market intelligence provider JLC, citing data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

PHOTO: Black drum barrels of crude oil and Chinese flag on a world map. Getty Images

China processed 63.62 million mt of crude in September with a daily throughput of 15.48 million b/d, an increase of 12% from September 2022, JLC reported citing data released by the NBS.

“Both state-owned and independent refiners raised their operating rates in September, in view of strong gasoline and jet fuel demand and growing diesel demand,” JLC stated.

Additionally, independent refiners had less unit maintenance work in September, "with 315,000 bbl/day of crude refining capacity offline, down from 712,000 bbl/day in August," JLC reported.

The year-on-year leap in refining run rate was primarily attributed to the strong growth in fuel demand and larger oil product exports following a boost in China's economic activity after multiple COVID-19 waves.

On a month-on-month basis, China’s daily crude throughput in September increased by 1.65%, said JLC citing NBS data.

China produced 16.87 million mt of crude oil in September this year, translating to 562,330 mt/day (4.11 million b/d), an increase of 0.3% from September 2022, JLC further stated.

Chinese refiners processed a total of 554.84 million mt of crude in the first nine months of this year, with a daily throughput of 14.84 mln barrels, up 11.5% from the same period in 2022, JLC said.

Meanwhile, the country imported 45.74 million mt of crude oil in September, with daily imports at 11.13 million barrels, up 13.7% year-on-year, JLC cited data from the General Administration of Customs (GACC).

 The country's crude oil imports in the first nine months totaled 424.27 million mt, a jump of 14.6% from a year before,” JLC further said.

By Aparupa Mazumder 

Please get in touch with comments or additional info to news@engine.online