BEIJING: China’s apparent oil demand in April rose 5.4 percent from a year earlier to 42.89 million metric tons, mainly supported by an increase in demand for light-end products such as gasoline.
The demand worked out to an average of 10.48 million barrels per day.
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The country’s apparent demand for gasoil, the most widely consumed oil product in China, in April grew by a robust 6.5 percent year on year to 14.62 million metric tons, after demand was hit in the last three years because of a cooling economy.
China’s refinery throughput in April averaged 10.54 million barrels per day, up 6.9 percent from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Meanwhile, China was a net oil product exporter, with volumes totaling 240,000 metric tons in April, according to the General Administration of Customs.
During the first four months of this year, China’s total apparent oil demand also averaged 10.48 million barrels per day, up 4.4 percent from a year ago.
The pace of increase continued to be the fastest year-to-date growth since 2011 and defied a relatively weak macroeconomic outlook, according to analysis from Platts, a global energy information provider.
“Apparent demand figures may be inflated compared with actual oil consumption because crucial data such as inventories are not taken into account,” said Song Yen Ling, Platts’ analyst for China.
Song added that gasoil apparent demand has grown fairly strong although end users have not reported any sharp rise in actual demand.
