A rebound in crude imports pushed Chinese apparent oil demand up in Septem- ber. But refners are exporting a growing surplus of transport fuels. Apparent demand — crude production plus net oil imports — rose by 7pc in the nine months to September from a year earlier (see table, left). Demand gathered momentum to 11.2mn b/d in July-September, up from 11.1mn b/d in January-June. But refnery crude use declined, even as apparent oil demand frmed. Many plants returned from an unusually heavy turnaround programme in the third quarter, but the amount of crude processed in China still shrank.
展开▼
