Launceston, Australia — Record crude imports and refinery processing in the first quarter give China’s oil sector the appearance of exceptional strength, but in this case looks can be a little deceiving. This isn’t to say that China’s crude demand and refinery throughput is weak in any shape or form, rather that there are factors that make it look stronger than it actually is on a fundamental basis. Looking at the refining sector first, March saw 11.19-million barrels per day (bpd) of crude being processed, just below the record high for December and 5.9% above the same month last year. In the first quarter, official figures show that 11.21-million bpd of crude were processed, up about 590,000 bpd, or 4.5%, from the same period last year. But not all the extra 590,000 bpd of fuel production have been consumed, with customs data showing some of the increase in refinery throughput has been exported. Exports of refined products were 11.96-million tonnes in the first quarter, up 22% fro...
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