China Weekly Oil Summary: Crude Capacity to Rise in 2024

MNI (London) - China’s crude refining capacity may increase 2.7% y/y in 2024 according to GL Consulting, a division of OilChem.

• The Yulong refinery in Shandong may start operations by March it said. China is shutting down inefficient operations in the country but will add 50mn tons of refining capacity in the next 3-5 years.
• Chinese independent refiners are reluctant to buy Iranian crude in February as the issues over pricing terms run into a second month according to Reuters sources.
• China’s planned exports of refined oil products, namely gasoline, gasoil, and jet fuel, are set to fall 13.65% on the month in Feb to 3.48m mt, according to OilChem. This represents a fall of 7.64% compared to February 2023.
• Gasoline and diesel retail prices in China were increased by 200 y/mt from Feb. 1.
• DATA: China's Caixin manufacturing PMI registered 50.8 in January, flat from December.
• POLICY: The Chinese economy is expected to grow by 5% in 2024, according to a policy advisor in an interview with the PBOC-run magazine China Financialyst.
• POLICY: China will strengthen fiscal efforts to boost investment and consumption to support economic recovery, officials of Ministry of Finance told reporters in a briefing.
• EXCLUSIVE: China’s headline inflation rate will remain weak this year as consumption and the property sector improve moderately, while manufacturing oversupply will likely weigh on future prices over the long term, policy advisors told MNI.