UPDATE 1-China’s crude oil imports in August increase as refiners resume buying

* Crude oil imports in August at 10.49 mln bpd against 9.71 mln bpd in July

* Exports of refined petroleum hit 13-month low

* Natural gas imports up 12% y / y (add bottom, gas imports)

BEIJING, Sept. 7 (Reuters) – China’s daily crude oil imports rose 8% in August from the previous month, customs data showed on Tuesday as refiners resuming purchases following the issuance of new quotas import.

China, the world’s largest buyer of crude oil, imported 44.53 million tonnes of oil last month, equivalent to 10.49 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data from the General Administration of customs.

This compares to 9.71 million bpd in July, but was still below 11.18 million bpd in August 2020.

Crude imports for the first eight months of 2021 reached 346.36 million tonnes, or about 10.4 million barrels per day, down 5.7% from the same period last year.

China’s demand for crude oil is picking up after nearly five months of slow purchases, caused by a shortage of import quotas, with buyers stepping up the pace of purchases and paying higher premiums to secure supply.

The government reported in local industry media that it granted 4.42 million tonnes of crude oil import quotas in August to four companies, but no official statement has been released.

Independent refiners in Shandong raised their operating rates to 66.25% in late August, from 62.3% in mid-August, according to data tracked by Chinese consulting firm JLC.

A fourth batch of quotas is expected to be issued in September or October, which could boost demand from independent refiners, also known as teapots, which account for a fifth of Chinese imports.

Customs data on Tuesday also showed that China’s exports of refined petroleum products in August stood at 3.73 million tonnes, up from 4.64 million tonnes in July, reaching the lowest level since July 2020. .

Natural gas imports in August, both by pipeline and liquefied natural gas (LNG), amounted to 10.44 million tonnes, up 11.5% year-on-year. (Reporting by Muyu Xu and Shivani Singh; editing by Richard Pullin)