CHINA DATA: State refiners boost runs to three-month highs of 82% in February

China state-refiners raised run rates to their highest level in three months in February, a move that would help more than offset a shortfall in supplies arising from run cuts undertaken at China's Shandong independent refineries to main blue skies during the Winter Olympics.

The average utilization rate at China's four state-owned refiners gained further in February to a three-month high of 82.3% from 79.8% in January as a few refineries boosted throughput after maintenance, S&P Global Platts data showed Feb. 24.

The state-owned oil giants -- Sinopec, PetroChina, CNOOC and Sinochem -- raised crude throughputs to 8.15 million b/d in February against their combined capacity of 9.89 million b/d, according to Platts data.

In January, Platts collected data from refineries with a combined 9.59 million b/d of capacity, which processed 7.66 million b/d. Platts had revised the refineries' throughput and run rate in January as CNOOC cut throughput at its 22 million mt/year Huizhou Petrochemical during the month to shift to different grades of crude. The refinery returned to normal operations in February.

The previous high for the utilization rate of these refineries was 82.6% in November.

The increase in crude throughputs by state-owned refineries is expected to offset the throughput cut at China's Shandong independent refineries.

Platts projected China's throughput to stand at around 14.3 million b/d in the first quarter, rising about 1% from 14.2 million b/d in Q4 2021, according to its monthly report dated Feb. 11.

In February, Sinochem's 15 million mt/year Quanzhou Petrochemical is the leading contributor to the increase in utilization, and has been running at 91% of its capacity compared to 39% in January when maintenance had just ended.

Sinopec

A few refineries under Sinopec also raised throughputs to compensate for the reduction of their peers in Beijing amid the Winter Olympics over Feb. 4-20.

These include the 14 million mt/year Fujian Refining and Petrochemical, which raised run rates in February by about seven percentage points to 75% from January.

The 8 million mt/year Anqing Petrochemical's utilization also jumped to 93%, processing 570,000 mt of crudes during the month, from 86% in January.

At the same time, the 14 million mt/year Qilu Petrochemical cut its run rates to 75% from 84% in January over a shut coking unit, the biggest drop among Sinopec's refineries near Beijing.

The 11 million mt/year Yanshan Petrochemical in Beijing also lowered its run rate to around 77% in February from 82% in the previous month.

PetroChina refineries

PetroChina's refineries in northwest and northeast China have largely kept run rates at around 74% since December.

"The demand for gasoline is a bit weak while gasoil [has been] selling well," said a PetroChina refinery source in northeast China.

The company's 10 million mt/year Sichuan Petrochemical in southwest China raised its run rate by seven percentage points from January to 85%. The refinery plans to boost its throughput by 6% to 8.9 million mt in 2022 from 8.4 million mt in 2021.

In February, Platts data covered 45 state-owned refineries, compared with 43 in January. These include 23 Sinopec refineries, 20 PetroChina refineries, CNOOC's Huizhou Petrochemical and Sinochem's Quanzhou Petrochemical refinery.

The 23 Sinopec refineries covered by Platts have a combined capacity of 5.25 million b/d, accounting for 86% of the refining giant's total capacity of 6.08 million b/d. Data collected by Platts for PetroChina's refineries represents a combined capacity of 3.9 million b/d, accounting for 95% of the company's total capacity of 4.09 million b/d.

Independent refineries

Among the independent refineries, the private refining complexes maintain high run rates, but small-sized independent refineries in Shandong have continued to cut run rates during the Winter Olympics.

The 400,000-b/d Hengli Petrochemical (Dalian) Refinery lifted its run rates to around 103% in February from 100% in January, amid ample feedstock availability. The refinery also has been operating its ethylene unit at around 109%.

Zhejiang Petroleum & Chemical kept its utilization rates at around 88% of its 800,000 b/d nameplate capacity, unchanged from January.

The weekly run rates at the small-sized private refineries in Shandong province were cut further due to the Beijing Games. Their average run rate is expected to stay below 60% as of Feb. 23, compared to around 59.8% a week earlier, according to local energy information provider JLC.

Feedstock consumption at these refineries had fallen by 3.4% on the month to a 22-month low of 9.4 million mt to run at 60% of their capacity in January, according to JLC.

State-owned refineries' maintenance schedules

** PetroChina's 5 million mt/year Liaohe Petrochemical will shut for overall maintenance over April-June.

** Sinopec's Hainan Petrochemical is scheduled to shut the 9.5 million mt/year refinery for an overall maintenance over early March-April.

** Sinopec's Yangtz Petrochemical is scheduled to shut the entire 14.5 million mt/year refinery for an overall maintenance over March-April.

** Sinopec's Tahe Petrochemical is scheduled to shut the 5 million mt/year refinery for an overall maintenance from mid March to end April.

AVERAGE RUN RATES AT CHINA'S TOP REFINERS:

Source: S&P Global Platts