According to a recent report, China's apparent* oil demand rose 6.6 percent year over year in October to 41.28 million metric tons (mt), or an average 9.76 million barrels per day (b/d).
The Platts analysis of recent Chinese government data showed October’s apparent demand was the third highest on record, slightly lower than the record 9.8 million b/d in September and the 9.77 million b/d seen in February this year.
"We continued to see strong growth in apparent oil demand in October, particularly after the lacklustre performance from June to August when demand contracted by about 0.3 percent year over year," said Song Yen Ling, Platts’ senior writer for China. "Most analysts now believe China's economy is on the mend and we should see a corresponding improvement in oil demand going into next year."
*Platts calculates China's apparent or implied oil demand on the basis of crude throughput volumes at the domestic refineries and net oil product imports, as reported by the National Bureau of Statistics and Chinese customs. Platts also takes into account undeclared revisions in NBS historical data.
