China's refinery output in May is at a 9-month low due to plant overhauls

Official data released on Monday showed that China's crude throughput fell by 1.8% from the previous year to its lowest level since August. This was due to maintenance being carried out at state-owned refineries and independent refineries.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the world's second largest oil consumer processed about 13,92 million barrels of crude per day in May.

In May, the daily processing rate dropped from 14.12 million bpd in April.

Chinese consultancies reported a continued decline in the utilization rates of domestic refineries. According to Chinese consultancy Sublime China Information, they reached their lowest level since the fourth quarter 2022.

In May, the average operating rate for primary refining units fell to 72.87%. The consultancy reported that 11 refineries are either completely shut down or under partial maintenance. This reduces gasoline and diesel production by 1.421 metric tons a month.

Independent refiners saw a modest increase in profits in Shandong. The average theoretical margin for Shandong's teapots in May was 293 Yuan ($40.8), an increase of 23 Yuan over April. This was because the decrease in revenue was smaller than the reduction in the raw material cost, according to the consultancy.

Vortexa, an analytics firm, says that throughput could rebound in June as several state-run refining plants are expected to finish turnarounds by late May or early June.

NBS data showed that China’s crude oil production rose by 1.8% in May compared to a year ago, reaching 18.47 million tons or 4,35 million barrels per day.

The crude oil production for the year to date has increased by 1.3%, reaching 90.28 millions tons or 4.36million bpd.

The data revealed that natural gas production rose 9.1% on an annual basis to 22.1 billion cubic meters in July, and by 6% over the previous five months. (metric ton = 7.3 barrels of crude oil)

(source: Reuters)