China Daily Oil Summary: Refined Product Output to Rise in Q2

China’s refined oil production is expected to jump in Q2 amid less extensive state-owned refinery maintenance and resilient demand, according to OilChem.

• Offline CDU capacity at state-owned refineries will fall 23.5% in April-June compared to the same period in 2023.
• The highest Johan Sverdrup crude volumes since February 2022 are heading to China after Unipec bought 8m barrels of the North Sea grade to be delivered in May amid weak demand in Europe, according to Reuters’ sources.
• The Russian tanker Krymsk, impacted by recent US sanctions on Sovcomflot, docked on Wednesday at the Chinese port of Dongying in eastern Shandong province according to LSEG.
• EXCLUSIVE: China plans to invest hundreds of billions of yuan in building up the world’s largest free-trade port in Southeast Hainan by 2025 and aims to pay for much of it with local government bond sales at home and abroad, a high-ranking provincial official told MNI, adding that authorities will closely monitor the use of the funds as risk management is now being prioritised over stimulating GDP growth.
• POLICY: China's macro policymakers will continue to strengthen counter-cycle efforts this year to support investment as weak external demand drags down exports, a prominent policy advisor said in a forum.