China's Estimated Consumption of Crude Oil Totals 7.8 Million Barrels per Day in 2008

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--In 2008, the apparent consumption of crude oil in China totaled about 7.8 million barrels per day (BBL/d), up 5.8% year over year. However, the growth was 1.5 percentage points compared with 2007. Apparent consumption refers to the sum of net imports and output, which could reflect social demand theoretically. The estimated consumption of product oil in China was 4.6 million BBL/d, up 11.9% year over year, according to a report published on January 22 by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA).

Although the growth rate of China's crude oil consumption dropped in 2008, the estimated consumption of product oil maintained growth, mainly because of the increase in product-oil imports in the second and the third quarters of 2008, said Zhu Fang, an official of CPCIA.

Imports

• Gasoline: about 42,800 BBL/d, up by nearly seven times year over year
• Diesel oil: about 134,000 BBL/d, nearly double the amount imported in the previous year
• Kerosene: about 138,800 BBL/d, up 23.5% year over year

China increased imports to meet domestic demand because of a sharp price increase in international oil as well as a price control on domestic product oil put into place in the first half of 2008. Local refineries had been forced to shut down or control production. After the price of product oil was adjusted in June 2008, the tension in the domestic supply of product oil began to alleviate. Starting in the fourth quarter, because of falling international oil prices, condition in China's oil refining industry reversed, but consumption also decreased because of the economic downturn. Statistics show that China's crude-oil processing in the fourth quarter dropped to 1.8 million BBL/d, down 4.8% compared with the previous quarter.

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