China's July oil product consumption rises 7% on year: NDRC

Singapore — China's consumption of oil products rose 7.2% year on year to 27.54 million mt in July, data released Tuesday by the National Development and Reform Commission showed.

The growth was mainly led by gasoline demand, which rose 14.1% year on year, while gasoil consumption was only up 1.4% year on year, NDRC said, without providing a breakdown of volumes for the two grades.

July oil product consumption was also up 7.6% from June, according to S&P Global Platts calculations based on the NDRC data.

Gasoline consumption rose in July as higher temperatures boosted demand for car air conditioning, market sources said.

Meanwhile, gasoil consumption was still lackluster last month as outdoor projects and transportation was affected by the hot and wet summer season, sources noted.

The country processed 48.65 million mt of crude oil in July, up 7.6% year on year, NDRC data showed.

As a result of the higher crude throughput in July, the country's oil product output rose 9.7% year on year to 30.43 million mt in the month, according to NDRC.

Meanwhile, China produced 15.57 million mt of crude oil in July, down 4.4% year on year, it added.

Over January-July, China processed 342.53 million mt of crude, up 6.8% year on year, while its oil product output rose 8.8% at 213.76 million mt, NDRC's data showed.

China's oil product consumption was up 5.8% year on year at 185.49 million mt over the same period, of which gasoline consumption rose 6% year on year while gasoil increased 4.7% on the year, NDRC said, without providing a breakdown of volumes for the two grades.

The growth of oil product consumption was slower than that of oil product output in the past seven years, which implies more oil product was exported or went into storage, according to market sources.

Over January-July, Chinese gasoline exports rose 42.5% on the year to 8.31 million mt, while gasoil exports rose 25.1% over the same period to 11.67 million mt, General Administration of Customs data showed.

GAS CONSUMPTION RISES 19% ON YEAR

In the gas segment, China's consumption of natural gas increased 19.1% year on year to 22.4 Bcm in July, NDRC said.

China produced 12.9 Bcm and imported 9.8 Bcm of natural gas in July, up 9.4% and 33.6% year on year, respectively.

Over January-July, China's natural gas consumption was 157.2 Bcm, up 17.8% year on year, with production posting year-on-year growth of 5.5% at 90.8 Bcm and imports jumping 38.5% at 68.2 Bcm, according to NDRC.

NDRC releases key data on output in the oil and gas industry on a monthly basis, but does not provide explanations for the changes.

Platts calculates the data for the prior year based on the percentage changes provided by the NDRC.

--Staff, newsdesk@spglobal.com

--Edited by Geetha Narayanasamy, geetha.narayanasamy@spglobal.com