Chinese refiners to cut December crude runs on soft demand – JLC

China’s state-owned oil refineries plan to reduce crude throughput in December because of "seasonally weak" domestic fuel demand and a drop in exports caused by limited quotas, market intelligence provider JLC reported.

PHOTO: An oil pump jack photographed at dusk, with the Chinese flag in the background. Getty Images

Chinese refiners, including Sinopec, PetroChina, and Sinochem, plan to process a total of about 39.28 million mt of crude in December, JLC reported.

The daily crude throughput is expected to be roughly around 1.3 million mt (9.33 million b/d), a drop of nearly 3% from November, according to JLC.

PetroChina plans to process 14.97 million mt of crude in December, with the daily throughput at roughly 482,900 mt (3.57 million b/d), down 8% from November, JLC reported.

PetroChina is expected to process about 1.37 billion b/d of crude this year, about 26.55 million bbls below its annual target that was released in March 2024.

Sinopec plans to process 20.45 million mt of crude this month, with the daily throughput at about 659,700 mt (4.85 million b/d), noting a monthly decline of 1.05%.

Meanwhile, sluggish Chinese demand has exerted downward pressure on oil prices, capping Brent crude gains in recent days.

By Aparupa Mazumder

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