China oil demand leaps to nearly 17mn b/d

摘要

Chinese apparent oil demand came close to 17mn b/d in May — an all-time high that belies the still-fragile state of the economy.Crude imports, much of them bought during China’s Co- vid-19 lockdown period, hit 11.4mn b/d in May. Net products imports soared to 1.7mn b/d in the same month, dramatically overturning China’s net export position in January-April. But both the high crude import and low products export data re- veal more about the unintended consequences of administered pricing than they do about underlying demand.