Question is do these folks start conserving I rather doubt it.
Reuters
UPDATE - China July crude imports jump 40.7 pct yr/yr
Friday August 20, 7:12 am ET
(Adds comment, writes through)
BEIJING, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Surging refinery production drove China's crude imports up nearly 41 percent in July, as demand from the world's second-largest oil consumer continues to power ahead despite runaway world crude prices and Beijing's moves to cool down the booming economy.
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China also bought more diesel and slashed gasoline exports by almost 33 percent to fuel growing demand for the auto fuel as the number of car owners rise.
Crude imports in July were 9.6 million tonnes, 2.32 million barrels a day, up 40.7 percent year on year, customs data showed, That took the total for the first seven months to 70.6 million tonnes (2.49 million bpd), up 39.5 percent from the year-earlier period.
State refiners, which supply around 90 percent of the domestic market, continued to pump at full tilt in July at 22.9 million tonnes, or 5.54 million bpd, 13 percent higher than a year ago, data from the State Statistical Bureau showed.
China boosted diesel imports by 175 percent in July from a year earlier, though it fell 38 percent from June, the General Administration of Customs said.
A longer-than-expected delay by Beijing to raise domestic pump price has partly fuelled higher demand.
The delay also encouraged stockpiling by independent dealers and end-users, who speculate that domestic markets would track record-high global prices, steaming towards $50 a barrel for U.S. light crude.
"Strong demand is not going to come off unless Beijing increases prices sharply," said a trader with leading refiner Sinopec.
Beijing, which sets China's retail fuel prices using international markets as a reference, has kept prices steady since mid-May due to inflationary concerns. But the controlled prices have pushed down refining margins at most Chinese refineries into the red since early August.
Despite the tumbling margins, Beijing-controlled refiner Sinopec Corp (HKSE:0386.HK - News; NYSE:SNP - News) and PetroChina (HKSE:0857.HK - News; NYSE:PTR - News; NYSE:PTR - News) must maintain processing rates between near and above capacities to avoid a supply shortage, industry officials said.
GASOLINE EXPORTS FALLING
The number of cars in China continued to rise, though at a slower rate than last year, boosting gasoline consumption and forcing state refiners to divert more barrels to the domestic market.
The customs data showed that China exported 449,006 tonnes of gasoline in July, down 32.9 percent from a year earlier. Exports in the first seven months fell 34.6 percent at 2.99 million tonnes.
China has been ramping up diesel imports this year to cover a domestic shortage due to an power crunch and a boom in the construction of roads, bridges, pipelines and dams.
Customs figures showed July diesel imports rose to 159,513 tonnes versus 57,645 tonnes in July last year, although main importers said they had started scaling back purchases since August due to strong prices in Asia and after bumper purchases in the first half of this year.
For the January-July period, diesel imports were up 172.5 percent at about 1.3 million tonnes.
Kerosene imports shot up by 73 percent in the period to about 1.76 million tonnes.
Fuel oil was alone among refined oil products in recording a sharp fall in imports. Customs data showed July imports of the heavy residue fuel at 2.2 million tonnes, down 18 percent from the year-ago period and 30 percent below June's level.
Traders attributed the drop to low demand in July from local small refineries, which process straight-run fuel oil into diesel, due to weak domestic diesel prices.
"We may see some rebound in August from July, but high Asian prices were curbing demand," said one state oil trader.
Crude oil exports fell 27.3 percent year on year to 3.4 million tonnes in the January to July period. Crude exports in July alone were 356,868 tonnes, customs said. |
