Chinese refiners maintained high yields for six oil products in August, although their combined crude oil throughput dropped to a 15-month low. Data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed that yields of gasoline, gasoil, fuel oil, jet fuel/kerosene, LPG, and naphtha came in at 71.1% last month, compared to 71.5% in July and 67% in August 2020. On the other hand, crude throughput declined 2.2% year-on-year and 1.2% month-on-month to 58.35 million tons, NBS data showed.
Industry sources said the high production yield was a result of improved reporting by independent refiners, which tried to make up lower oil product supplies from blending pools amid probes into alleged tax violations. At the same time, heightened competition in the chemical market also supported refineries’ production yields. Officials from state-owned PetroChina and Sinopec said there are more supplies in the domestic chemical market which narrows profits from petrochemicals.
