China Daily Oil Summary: Record Refinery Throughput

MNI (London) - China refinery throughput hit another record in September at 63.62 million metric tons last month or 15.48mn bpd, up from the prior record in August of 15.23mn bpd according to National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) data.

• Throughputs strengthened because of new export quota releases early September, strong export margins – especially for diesel as well as solid domestic demand with firm travel figures during China’s Golden Week.
• China’s regulator has asked its biggest state-owned natural gas suppliers to fill up storage facilities heading into the peak winter heating season, China National Energy Administration said.
• Chinese exports of gasoline and diesel fell last month according to customs data with supplies prioritized to meet robust domestic demand. Gasoline exports fell 21% from an eight-month high to 1.09m mt, while Diesel exports fell 6.4% from a five-month high to 1.18m mt
• DATA: The Chinese economy grew by 4.9% y/y in Q3, beating market expectations of 4.5%, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. Industrial production rose 4.5% y/y in Sept, flat from the previous month, while outperforming the 4.3% forecast.
• Several banks have revised their expectations for China’s growth this year. Citigroup now expects China's GDP to grow 5.3% in 2023 from 5% earlier, while JP Morgan and Nomura see it at 5.2% and 5.1%, respectively. Goldman Sachs trimmed its forecast to 5.3% from 5.4%, still higher than Beijing's official target of a 5% growth for the year. USB raised its forecast from 5.2% vs 4.8%. Morgan Stanley also revised up its estimate from 5.1% vs 4.8%-4.9% previously.
• YUAN: The currency strengthened to 7.3099 against the dollar from 7.3137 on Tuesday.
• Chinese state media reporting comments from President Xi Jinping following his lengthy talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. States that "China and Russia should actively explore cooperation in strategic emerging industries." Xi: "China [is] willing to continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with Russia within multilateral frameworks."