Reuters
China’s daily crude oil throughput in March hit the lowest level since December 2018 with state refiners maintaining deep output cuts as the coronavirus pandemic eroded fuel demand.
Crude processing volumes were 50.04 million tonnes, equivalent to about 11.78 million barrels per day (bpd), data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed on Friday.
That was well below 12.07 million bpd in January and February combined, and 12.49 million bpd in March 2019. The statistics bureau did not disclose numbers for January and February separately.
Total throughput in the first three months of 2020 was 149.28 million tonnes, down 4.6% from the same period last year.
State-backed refiners were operating at low runs and put some crude oil processing units under overhaul amid the coronavirus outbreak that has hobbled supply chains and dampened refined oil products consumption.
But as local governments began lifting virus-related curbs, independent oil refineries started to ramp up output to meet an expected recovery in fuel demand.
Average utilisation rate at refineries across China reached 71.65% this week from as low as 67.5% in mid-February, according to data tracked by Longzhong Information Co.
“Refiners have incentives to improve operations as fuel consumption is gradually picking up, and they also need to quickly digest the expensive crude oil they bought before oil prices collapsed,” Li Yan, a senior analyst at Longzhong, said before the data was released.
China slashed the retail ceiling prices for gasoline and diesel last month, echoing a plunge in oil prices triggered by a price war between Saudi Arabia and Russia as well as a collapse in demand amid the global health crisis.
The cheap crude oil has boosted profit margins for refiners, which have risen to over 600 yuan ($84.82) a tonne from below 100 yuan in late February.
Energy consultancy ICIS said it expects China’s crude oil throughput to reach to over 13 million bpd in April and May as some refiners shut for maintenance resume output.
The statistics bureau data also showed China’s crude oil output in March dipped just 0.1% from a year earlier to 16.56 million tonnes, or 3.9 million bpd.
Natural gas output rose 11.2% in March from a year ago to 16.9 billion cubic metres (bcm). For the quarter, output rose 9.1% on year to 48.3 bcm despite virus-linked disruptions. ($1 = 7.0739 Chinese yuan)