China’s crude oil imports rose by 5.45% in April compared to the previous year, reaching 44.72 million metric tons or about 10.88 million barrels per day (bpd). This increase was driven by refiners preparing for the fully recovered Labour Day holiday travel season.
The data, released by the General Administration of Customs, showed that the April imports were higher than the 10.4 million bpd imported in April 2023. The increase in travel demand was evident, with more than 1.3 billion passenger trips reported over the five-day Labour Day holiday, up 2.1% from a year earlier.
Highway traffic saw a 2.1% rise, while air travel surged by 8.1%, according to state media outlet Xinhua. Domestic airline seat capacity in April was also up 1.3% compared to the previous year, as per data from consultancy OAG.
However, China’s crude oil imports slowed by 5.8% from March’s level of 11.55 million bpd, as crude oil prices strengthened, and domestic diesel demand weakened. Analyst Lin Ye from Rystad Energy in Beijing said, “China’s crude demand is expected to be supported by larger export quota this year and new refinery start-up later this year.”
The data also showed a 14.7% year-on-year increase in natural gas imports for April, reaching 10.30 million tons. This was attributed to the drop in LNG prices for Asia, which were down 11.3% from the same period last year and 43% from last year’s peak in October.
Exports of refined oil products, including diesel, gasoline, aviation fuel, and marine fuel, also saw a 21.46% increase from a year earlier, reaching 4.55 million tons.