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After a slow start until 2020, hit by a pandemic, Chinese refiners increased production from April, thanks to extremely low crude oil prices and a rebound in the Chinese economy and demand for fuel, setting a new record for crude oil processing volumes.
The throughput of crude oil in Chinese refineries was on average 674.41 million tonnes, or 13.51 million barrels per day (b / d), in 2020, an increase of 3.2% over the year to achieve a record processing volume, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics. cited by Argus.
Last year, when international crude oil prices fell in March, April and most of May, Chinese refiners took advantage of the lowest prices in years and sourced crude at low prices. For several months, China broke crude oil import records throughout the summer, and tankers had to wait weeks to unload crude as port congestion increased.
Several new refining units have also contributed to record crude processing rates in China in 2020, as have the higher import quotas granted to independent refiners – the so-called teapots – by the government.
According to data from the Chinese Bureau of Statistics cited by Argus, Chinese refiners reduced the throughput of crude oil between January and March, with March production falling 6.6% year on year. In April, however, refiners began ramping up processing of crude oil, which hit a daily record in November – at 14.2 million bpd, up 3.2% from November 2019. The Average refinery throughput in December was only slightly lower – at 14.18 million bpd, it remained close to November record levels, according to Argus estimates.
Chinese crude oil imports also hit a record 10.85 million bpd on average in 2020, up 7.3%, due to cheap crude prices and the start of several refineries.
For most of last year, strong demand in China alone supported the oil market, while demand in Europe and the United States declined with the resurgence of COVID-19 cases.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for OilUSD
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