China's December oil demand hits record, 2011 up 6.8 percent

BEIJING: China's implied oil demand climbed to an all-time high of 9.64 million barrels per day in December, up 0.4 percent from a year earlier and wound up 2011 with 6.8 percent growth, calculations based on preliminary government data showed.

The December level edged up from November's 9.5 million bpd.

For the whole of 2011, China burned about 9.24 million bpd, or 590,000 bpd more than the 8.65 million bpd in 2010, the calculations showed.

The 6.8 percent growth for last year eased from the previous year's 12 percent expansion, as moderating economic growth weighed on fuel demand.

Implied demand was calculated using refinery throughput plus net fuel imports, but excludes oil inventory changes, which the country rarely publishes.