Chinese Refining Officials See Domestic Oil Product Demand Recovering

Chinese oil demand is recovering and is expected to rebound next year as Beijing eases COVID-19 restrictions according to senior Chinese refining officials at APPEC.

• "This year we have seen the decline of imports of crude oil, first time in many, many years in China," Chen Hongbing, deputy general manager at Rongsheng Petrochemical said at the forum.
• "We have seen output of gasoline and jet fuel is down but the output for diesel is actually up and demand is still healthy," he said, adding that China's diesel inventories are currently low.
• "We look at high frequency data like airlines bookings, road congestion, consumption, and we see a little better activity in China," Wu Qiunan, chief economist at PetroChina International said adding that the Q4 demand growth outlook was better than Q3.
• The recovery in aviation fuel demand may take longer than other fuels because of difficulties in international travel, Rongsheng's Chen said.