China expects record low crude oil imports this year, after a
record high last year, as a result of high stockpiles and weak
demand, analysts said.
"We predicted that the imports will reach 60 million tons by the
end of the year, against the 70 million tons last year," said Zhu
Xinshan, a senior expert from the Energy Research Institute under
the State Development Planning
Commission.
Zhu said the slump in imports mainly derives from the high stocks
oil companies placed in reserve last year when oil prices hit a
10-year high.
"They need time to soak it up (stocks)," Zhu said.
In
the January-September period, China imported 48 million tons of
crude oil, down 7.7 per cent from a year ago. In September alone,
imports fell to less than 5 million tons, 26.4 per cent off the
same period the previous year.
According to Zhu, crude oil stocks jumped to 20 million tons by the
end of last year, much higher than the usual level.
Gong Jingshuang, an oil analyst from the China National
Petroleum Corp (CNPC), the nation's largest oil producer,
agreed that the imports would drop to 60 million tons, adding that
the oversupply of gasoline and diesel on the domestic market has
contributed to the decrease in crude oil imports.
China's refineries processed less crude oil because of the sluggish
demand for refined oil products on the domestic market.
Crude oil at China's top refiner Sinopec fell
4.2 per cent in the first eight months of this year to 71.42
million tons, according to the industry newsletter China OGP.
The National Bureau of Statistics indicated that national crude oil
totalled 138.8 million tons in the January-August period, down 0.6
per cent from the same period last year.
Earlier reports said Sinopec and CNPC have agreed to refine less
crude oil in order to cut oil product inventories and support
profit margins.
In
the previous nine months, China also exported 5.9 million tons of
crude oil, up 32 per cent from the same period last year.
Analyst said exports rose in part because Sinopec increased its
capacity to process oil from the Middle East.
(China
Daily October 30, 2001)