China’s refinery throughput edges down in December

Oil

China’s crude oil refinery throughputs fell by 70K b/d m-o-m to 14.19M b/d in December, after previously rising to a record high in November, according to data from the Chinese National Bureau of Statistics. Despite edging down on a monthly basis this is still the second highest level on record, and an increase of 350K b/d (or 3%) y-o-y. China’s crude oil throughputs rose by 410K b/d y-o-y to average 13.51M b/d across 2020, elevating to the highest level on record as refineries capitalised on plummeting global oil prices amidst rapidly recovering domestic fuel demand following the coronavirus outbreak earlier in the year, Reuters report.