2019-11-08 11:15:00
CHINA'S OIL IMPORTS +11.5%
REUTERS - China's crude oil imports in October rose 11.5% from a year earlier to a record high, customs data showed on Friday, as new refineries bolstered demand and small independent plants maintained throughput amid steady refining margins.
However, natural gas imports last month fell 10.6% from a year earlier, its first decline since November 2016, according to Reuters' records of customs data.
China, the world's top oil importer, brought in 45.51 million tonnes of crude last month, equivalent to 10.72 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data released by the General Administration of Customs.
That compared to 10.04 million bpd in September.
Imports during the first 10 months of the year reached 414.55 million tonnes, or 9.95 million bpd, 10.5% higher than the year earlier period.
"Strong refining margins in August prompted both national oil companies and the independents to ramp their crude purchases, which mostly were reflected in October data," said Joey Chen, an oil consultant at FGE.
But, Chinese refiners have had a tough year because of fierce competition in the domestic fuel market as demand fell in tandem with a moderating economy.
Top Asian refiner Sinopec Corp reported last week its third-quarter earnings dropped 35% versus a year ago partly due to narrowing refining profits.
PetroChina, which posted a 58% year-on-year fall in third-quarter profit, expects the domestic fuel market to remain sluggish in the fourth quarter, a company executive told an analysts' briefing last week.
Total natural gas imports, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline, last month fell to 6.52 million tonnes, the lowest since February 2018, and down from September's 8.21 million tonnes, customs data showed.
The unusual year-on-year fall in October imports was partly caused by an outage of a key PetroChina-operated import terminal.
Gas imports in the January to October period reached 77.71 million tonnes, up 7.9% from the same period last year.
China's imports of LNG are forecast to grow by as much as 17% this year, a third of the pace of last year, reflecting a slower government push to convert homes to gas heating from coal.
The customs data also showed the country exported 5 million tonnes of refined oil products in October, up a quarter from a year earlier, and compared to 5.68 million tonnes in September.
Exports for the first 10 months were 52.75 million tonnes, up 9.3% from the same period last year.
-----
Earlier:
2019, November, 6, 12:45:00
CHINA'S NUCLEAR UP 23%
China’s nuclear power sector was responsible for 4.8% of China’s total electricity supply over the period, up from 4.1% in the same period of last year.
2019, October, 25, 09:25:00
CHINA'S GAS DEMAND WILL UP BY 82%
City gas demand is likely to experience rapid growth over the next 10-15 years, driven by consumption growth from heating and the public sector.
This growth will be supported by China's growing urbanization and urban gasification, which are expected to exceed 70% within the next decade, up from 59.7% and 50.9% at the end of 2018, respectively.
2019, October, 25, 09:20:00
CHINA'S GAS PRODUCTION WILL UP
In June 2019, the Chinese government introduced a subsidy program that established new incentives for production of natural gas from tight formations and extended existing subsidies for production from shale and coalbed methane resources. This subsidy is scheduled to be in effect through 2023. In addition to the changes in the subsidy program, the government allowed foreign companies to operate independently in the country’s oil and natural gas upstream sector.
2019, October, 21, 13:15:00
CHINA'S LNG INVESTMENT: 11.5 MT
China’s Yantai LNG Group is aiming to start up a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal by 2022 and expects government approval for it over the next few weeks
