China’s refineries seem to have used the latest low Oil costs primarily to extend their inventories, Commerzbank’s commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.
Second largest Oil consumption market stays a priority
“It is because the nonetheless excessive crude Oil imports in April have been accompanied by fairly weak crude Oil processing: It fell final month to 58 million tons or 14.1 million barrels per day, which was considerably under the March stage and likewise 1.4% under the earlier yr’s stage.”
“In response to the Chinese language consulting agency Elegant China, refinery capability utilisation was at its lowest stage since 2022 at slightly below 74%. Taking into consideration home Oil manufacturing, which was nonetheless 1.5% larger than the earlier yr, crude Oil inventories elevated by slightly below 2 million barrels per day in April.”
“Adjusted for web exports of refined merchandise, which have now additionally been reported, China’s obvious Oil demand in the identical month was a great 5.5% under the earlier yr, in accordance with Bloomberg calculations. Which means that the second largest Oil consumption market stays a priority.”
