Official customs data showed China’s crude oil imports in March rose 4.5 percent from a year earlier. China imported 41.1 million tons of oil, equal to 9.68 million bpd.
For the first two months of the year, crude oil imports were an average of 10.47 million bpd. From January to March, imports jumped 5 percent from a year earlier to 127.19 million tons.
As fuel demand collapsed amid a nationwide lockdown to contain the novel coronavirus, refiners began slashing crude throughput in February. As a plunge in oil prices triggered by the Saudi-Russia price war boosted margins, independent plants, also known as “teapots”, started cranking up production rates in March.
As companies resume operations and travel curbs are eased, Chinese fuel demand has started to recover. However, demand across the full year expected to fall 19.1 percent from the previous year.
Up 1.8 percent from a year earlier, natural gas imports in Q1 were 24.66 million tons. Down 0.2 percent from a year earlier, imports were 6.92 million tons in March.
As a seasonal plunge in demand adds to the impact on consumption from the coronavirus outbreak, some contracts cancelled by PetroChina in early March, including piped gas from Central Asia and LNG shipments.
