Platts Report: China's March Oil Demand up 12.8% From Year Ago at 8.1 Million Barrels Per Day, But Down From February

HONG KONG, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Platts – China's apparent* oil demand in March climbed 12.8% from a year ago to 35.25 million tonnes or about 8.12 million barrels per day (b/d), but fell below the all-time high of 8.5 million b/d estimated for February, according to a Platts analysis of official data just released.  

Amid growing refining capacity in the country and high refinery utilization rates, March was also the seventh month in row the world's second-largest oil consumer after the US posted double-digit on-year growth in oil consumption.

The latest growth spurt goes back to September 2009, a month that saw Chinese oil consumption leap 12.6% on year to 28.41 million tonnes. However, the November 2009 high of an 18.7% on-year leap in demand remains unsurpassed.

For the first quarter of this year, Chinese petroleum demand averaged around 8.1 million b/d according to Platts estimates, up 16% versus the corresponding period of 2009. The country's refiners collectively processed 100 million tonnes of crude in the first three months of the year, or an average 8.15 million b/d, a 21.6% rise from a year ago, helped by new capacity brought on stream through 2009 by state-owned giants Sinopec, PetroChina and China National Offshore Oil Corp.

"The Chinese economy appears to be moving at full steam once again, going by the 11.9% gross domestic product growth reported for the first quarter, and is pulling along oil consumption in its wake," said Vandana Hari, Asia news director at Platts. "Industrial production and retail sales both climbed by a strong 18% in March, while Q1 car sales were up a whopping 76% from a year ago, no doubt feeding into both gasoil and gasoline demand."  

"Some of the March demand could be attributed to stockpiling of refined products ahead of an anticipated price hike in the domestic market, which Beijing implemented from April 14. But the effect could be discounted because of a similar price hike in late-March 2009, and the on-year growth consumption is still strong," Hari added.  

With increased domestic production of fuel, China's oil product imports continue to decline. March refined product purchases from overseas totaled around 3.39 million tonnes, down 3.4% from a year ago. At the same time, Chinese oil product exports vaulted nearly 67% from a year ago to 2.7 million tonnes in March, official statistics showed.  

    
    
    MONTHLY TRADE DATA IN MILLION METRIC TONS: 
    
                 Mar'10  Mar'09  % Chg  Feb'10  Jan'10  Dec'09  Nov'09  Oct'09
    Net crude 
     imports     20.78   15.87   +30.9  18.29   16.98   20.90   16.70    18.97
    Crude 
     production  16.91   15.82    +6.9  15.11   16.87   16.07   15.67    16.26
    Apparent 
     demand*     35.25   31.26   +12.8  33.28   33.64   34.52   33.67    33.89

*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/. Visit the media center to schedule an interview.

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SOURCE Platts