Chinese domestic refiners processed 14.01 million bpd of crude oil in September, according to data issued by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. The figure represents a 0.4% decline from the previous month. It also highlights a continuing downtrend in China’s crude runs due to high product stockpiles since hitting a record high of 14.14 million bpd in June. Domestic crude intake stood at 14.08 million bpd in July and 14.06 million bpd in August, NBS data showed.
Crude and bitumen blend imports by China’s independent refiners rose 1.6% month-on-month to 18.14 million tons (4.43 million bpd), recovering from a three-month low of 17.85 million tons in the previous month. However, crude and bitumen blend import volumes are not expected to increase further this month.
Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical led fellow independent refiners in the monthly increase in crude imports. ZPC received a total of 2.444 million tons of crude in September, increasing by 422,000 tons from August. ZPC’s imports are likely to hover around these high levels as it is expected to start trial runs at units part of the 20 million tons/year phase 2 project by the end of 2020. ZPC has applied for an additional crude import quota of 4 million tons for this year.
