China’s oil consumption hits record high in Q1

Soaring oil prices have not slowed China’s consumption of oil as statistics show that China’s apparent consumption of crude oil and refined oil products both hit record highs in the first quarter of the year. According to statistics released on April 29 by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA), China’s apparent consumption of oil products composed of gasoline, diesel and kerosene rose by 16.5% year on year to 52.73 million tons in the first three months, and crude oil, rose by 8% to 91.8 million tons. The “apparent consumption” represents the sum of net imports and output and could be taken as an index for real oil consumption, excluding inventory. The growth of oil products consumption was a record high and much higher than the same period last year, which was only 3.6%, said Shu Zhaoxia, professor of the Economics and Development Research Institute of China Petrochemical Corporation (Sinopec Group). (May 5, 2008)