CHINA DATA: Jan-Feb crude throughput drops 5.4% on year to 12.12 mil b/d

Singapore — Crude oil throughput at China's domestic refineries dropped 5.4% year on year to 12.12 million b/d in January-February amid the coronavirus outbreak, which was the first year-on-year decline since 2009, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics, or NBS, showed Monday.

China's crude throughput fell 5.3% year on year in January-February 2009 to 6.41 million b/d amid the financial crisis then, NBS data showed.

The January-February reduction this year was within S&P Global Platts' estimates, published last month, based on surveys.

S&P Global Platts estimated January throughput at around 13.7 million b/d, falling from 13.84 million b/d in December, as small-scale independent refineries cut their run rates to 63.5% in the month from 72.2% in December due to weakening demand amid the coronavirus outbreak and the Lunar New Year celebrations, while the new 400,000 b/d Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical refinery lifted its throughput after its full start-up in the previous month.

Both state-owned and independent refineries were estimated to have slashed February throughput by a total 3.3 million b/d from January due to the quarantine measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus, which dampened demand heavily, Platts reported previously.

NBS data showed that China's industrial production registered the first negative growth since 1990, at minus 13.5%, over January-February, partly reflecting a pause in economic activity amid the coronavirus outbreak.

In March, analysts expected China's throughput to recover slightly to over 11 million b/d in a bid to lower crude stock, and as demand is slowly recovering with the resumption of economic activity.

Sinopec planned to raise throughput by around 470,000 b/d in March from February, while small-scale independent refiners are expected to hike run rates to about 55%, from 44% last month, Platts reported.

UPSTREAM OUTPUT RISES

However, the country's upstream output continues to rise.

China's crude output stood at 3.91 million b/d over January-February, up 2% from the same period in 2019, NBS data showed.

Quarantine has had a lesser impact on upstream production as the domestic fields are far from highly populated towns and cities, and rely on pipeline for transportation.

Moreover, the government has been calling for a boost in upstream production for the sake of national energy security, which would support, stabilize and grow the output.

NBS releases data in metric tons, which S&P Global Platts converts to barrels using a 7.33 conversion factor. The bureau did not release monthly data for January and February.

China's natural gas output also rose 8% year on year to 31.4 Bcm in the first two months, the data showed.

China's crude, gas output and throughput

Unit: million mt

Source: China's National Bureau of Statistics