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China Oil Throughput Falls Sharply, Taps Strategic Reserves
17 Aug
Summary
- July crude oil throughput declined 15.8% year-on-year, first monthly rise since February.
- China processed 53.11 million metric tons of oil in July, with daily throughput up 0.3% from June.
- Consultancies estimate significant crude oil stockpile drawdowns in July, suggesting higher refinery output than official data.
In July, China's crude oil throughput experienced a significant 15.8% decline compared to the previous year. This marked the first month-on-month increase since late February, with processing volumes rising by 0.3% from June to reach 53.11 million metric tons. Daily throughput, averaging 12.5 million barrels, remains considerably lower than pre-conflict levels.
Despite the reduction in refinery runs, consultancies estimate that China drew down its oil stockpiles significantly in July. Kpler estimated a drawdown of 25 million barrels, while Vortexa reported 28 million barrels, indicating that actual refinery output might be higher than official statistics suggest. These drawdowns underscore a sharp cut in oil imports, which are still down 24% year-on-year.
Domestic crude oil production saw a modest increase of 0.8% in July, reaching 18.27 million tons. Concurrently, natural gas production fell by 0.9% to 21.4 billion cubic meters. The overall throughput for the first seven months of the year is down 6.5% year-on-year.
