China's January crude oil throughput slows over holiday

China's crude oil throughput fell in January from the record level seen in previous month while oil product inventories surged, as demand in the world's second largest oil market slowed during the Lunar New Year. Refineries processed 36.2 million tonnes of crude oil in January or 8.52 million barrels per day (bpd), up 1.9 percent on the year, according to data from the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC).
The daily throughput was around 8 percent less than in December when oil refiners processed a record 9.24 million bpd of crude oil, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The NDRC data is the first read of China's crude runs from the holiday-affected month as the statistics bureau only publishes combined January and February numbers on March 9.
The numbers are often smaller than those published by the statistics bureau. Inventories of refined oil products at the end of January increased 2.45 million tonnes from a month earlier and rose 1.7 million tonnes from a year earlier, the NDRC said, without breaking down by type.
China's diesel inventories jumped 29.1 percent on month in January, gasoline stocks fell 4 percent and overall fuel stocks gained 14 percent from a month earlier, a Xinhua report has said. The NDRC data and Xinhua report indicate diesel demand was hit the hardest in January as many businesses and factories closed for the Lunar New Year holidays, while a rising number of private cars and increasing holiday driving aided gasoline use.
The country's crude oil production declined 2.3 percent from a year earlier to 17.08 million tonnes last month, or 4.02 million bpd, the NDRC said, citing industry statistics, equivalent to 73 percent of China's crude oil imports in January. Last month's natural gas production was 9.8 billion cubic metres, 2.4 percent more than a year earlier, according to the commission. China imported 2 billion cubic metres of pipeline gas last month, according to the NDRC, almost double earlier customs data that showed the country bought 1.03 million tonnes of pipeline gas.