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China’s Crude Oil Imports Keep Declining

by Krystal

China’s crude oil imports remain sluggish, with October marking the sixth consecutive month of weak arrivals. According to official data released on Thursday, crude oil imports for the month were significantly lower than in the same period last year.

China imported an average of 10.53 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in October, according to data from the General Administration of Customs cited by Reuters. This represents a 9% drop from October 2023 and a 2% decline from September 2024, when imports were 11.07 million bpd.

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The decrease in imports is partly due to reduced refining capacity at PetroChina’s Dalian refinery and ongoing weak demand from China’s independent refiners, known as “teapots.” PetroChina, which plans to close its largest refinery in 2025, has already shut down around half of the Dalian refinery’s crude processing capacity, which stands at 210,000 bpd.

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Private refiners in the Shandong province, meanwhile, have been struggling with low refining margins, leading to further reductions in their processing rates over the past few months.

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From January to October, China’s crude oil imports averaged 10.76 million bpd, a 3.4% decline from the same period last year, based on Chinese customs data.

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The country’s weaker-than-expected oil demand has had a dampening effect on global oil prices, prompting both OPEC and the International Energy Agency (IEA) to lower their growth forecasts for global oil demand in 2024.

Concerns over China’s oil demand have contributed to lower oil prices throughout the second half of the year. As actual consumption data came in, it became clear that previous expectations of strong demand from China were overestimated.

IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol noted that global oil demand is significantly weaker this year, with China playing a key role in the slowdown. “This year, global oil demand is much weaker than in previous years, and we expect this to continue because of one reason — China,” Birol told Bloomberg in an interview last month.

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