After a slow start to 2020 with pandemic, China’s refineries boosted production from April, thanks to ultra-low crude oil prices and a boom in the Chinese economy and fuel demand, which set a new record for the processing of crude oil.
Crude oil production at China’s refineries averaged 674.41 million tons, or 13.51 million barrels per day (bpd), in 2020, an increase of 3.2 percent over the previous year to a record high processing volume , according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. quoted by Argus.
Last year, when international crude oil prices fell in March, April and most of May, Chinese refineries took advantage of the lowest prices in years and built up lower crude oil prices. For several months, China has shattered crude oil import records through the summer, and tankers have had to wait weeks to unload crude oil as ports’ congestion has increased.
Several new refinery units have also contributed to China’s record high crude processing rates in 2020, as well as the higher import quotas the government has given to independent refineries – the so-called teapots.
According to data from the Chinese Bureau of Statistics quoted by Argus, Chinese refineries reduced crude oil production between January and March, with production in March up 6.6 percent year-on-year. In April, however, refineries began to increase crude oil processing, which reached a daily record in November – at 14.2 million bpd, up 3.2 percent from November 2019. The average throughput of refineries in December was just a little lower – at 14.18 million bpd, it stayed close to November’s record levels, according to Argus’ estimates.
China’s crude oil imports also averaged a record high of 10.85 million bpd in 2020, up 7.3 percent, due to cheap crude prices and the establishment of several refineries.
For most of last year, solid demand in China completely supported the oil market on its own, while demand in Europe and the United States declined with the revival of COVID-19 cases.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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