Refinery Runs Jump as China Keeps Processing Despite Maintenance
Chinese refiners averaged a 39% jump in crude throughput last month, reaching 60.83 million tons in total and about 14.86 million barrels per day, according to official data cited by Reuters via sources such as BR Research. The November daily average was slightly below October’s 14.94 million bpd, a dip largely attributed to maintenance that reduced capacity by about 1.2 million barrels per day in November, noted Kpler senior oil analyst Muyu Xu.
Even with some refineries offline for maintenance, independent refiners accelerated their runs after the government issued new crude import quotas, Xu added, and this helped keep December throughput numbers robust. Xu also suggested that December throughput should remain broadly steady compared with November’s level, as state-owned refineries continue maintenance while smaller, private plants raise their run rates.
From January through November, Chinese refiners processed 4% more crude than the same period last year, totaling 675.07 million tons. This challenges the notion that China’s demand for crude is slowing irreversibly, and aligns with renewed confidence in domestic demand dynamics.
China also pushed domestic oil production higher, up 1.7% year over year to 198.25 million tons, according to Reuters. In November alone, output reached 17.63 million tons, up 2.2% from November 2024.
Average crude production this year has climbed to about 4.3 million barrels per day, up from roughly 3.8 million bpd in 2020. Even with this growth, China remains heavily reliant on imports, which account for roughly 70–75% of its consumption.
This import dependency may help explain why China has been aggressively stockpiling crude while prices are favorable. Throughout the year, the country has been accumulating crude at around 1 million barrels per day and expanding storage capacity. By the end of the year and into next, China plans to add 11 new storage facilities with a combined capacity of about 169 million barrels.
Source: Irina Slav, Oilprice.com
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