After a slow onset of the pandemic until 2020, Chinese refiners boosted production from April, thanks to very low crude oil prices and a rebound in the Chinese economy and fuel demand, setting a new record for crude oil processing volumes.
Crude oil yields in China’s refineries averaged 674.41 million tonnes, or 13.51 million barrels per day (bpd), in 2020, 3.2% more than the previous year. up to a high processing volume, according to data from the National Statistics Office. quoted by Argus.
Last year, when international crude oil prices plunged in March, April and most of May, Chinese refiners took advantage of the lowest prices of the years and supplied low-priced crude oil. For several months, China shattered records of crude oil imports over the summer and oil tankers had to wait weeks to unload crude oil as port congestion grew.
Several new refining units also contributed to China’s crude oil processing rates by 2020, as did higher import quotas given to independent refiners – the so-called teapots – by the government.
According to data from the China Bureau of Statistics cited by Argus, Chinese refiners reduced crude oil production between January and March, with March production up 6.6 percent year-on-year. However, in April, refiners began to increase crude processing, which reached a daily record in November (14.2 million bpd, 3.2% more than in November 2019). The average yield at the refinery in December was only slightly lower, at 14.18. million bpd, remained close to November record levels, according to Argus estimates.
China’s crude imports also rose to a record high of 10.85 million bpd on average in 2020, up 7.3%, due to economic crude oil prices and the launch of several refineries.
For most of last year, strong demand in China individually supported the oil market, while demand in Europe and the United States declined with the recovery of COVID-19 cases.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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