Slight increase of July crude oil import, refined oil export hit this year's record

Slight Import Increase of Crude Oil 
 

The import volume of crude oil in July is increased slightly compared with that in June, but the increasing rate is rather small. There is still a certain distance away from the previous months in imports. From March to May of this year, more than 32 million tons of crude oil was imported on a monthly basis in China, ranking at the first place given the previous import volumes. 

However, the import of the crude oil this year has been relatively increased compared with the same period last year. As indicated in the data, the total import volume of crude oil from January to July last year was 217,610 tons ; 23.52 million tons of crude oil was increased this year compared with the same period last year, with an increasing rate reaching 12.1%. 
 

The factors for continuous increasing of import volume this year are as follows: 

1) NDRC announced, in January, to adjust the price of refined oil as "price floor", namely the maximum retail price of gasoline and diesel is not decreased when the international market oil price is decreased to be USD 40/barrel. 

2) The import right of the crude oil is opened, and the import volume of "teapot" refiners is largely increased. It is reported that there have been 15 private refineries obtaining the quota of importing crude oil, with an total volume over 60 million tons at present. 

3) With public opinions sought for the Regulations on National Petroleum Reserve (Draft for Comments) in the first half year, the domestic strategic oil reserve demand is increased continuously. 

Continuous growth of refined oil exports 

As the producing capacity of "teapot" refineries in China is increased steadily, Sinopec, PetroChina and other oil refining enterprises are facing tremendous competitive pressure. Thus, the exports to Southeast Asia and other Asian markets are begun to be increased. 

In July, the export volume of the refined oil in China reached 4.57 million tons, which was largely increased in the sixth consecutive month. The total cumulative export volume was 26.03 million tons from January to July, with an increasing rate of 46.3% compared with the same period last year. 
 

National Export of Refined Oil from January to July in 2016 
 

The echo is that the import volume in July was only 2.08 million, being the lowest volume since the beginning of this year. (by chinayie.com)