Crude oil processing in China down year on year for six months in a row - Commerzbank

Chinese oil refineries processed 58.7 million tons of crude oil in September, Commerzbank's commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.

Crude oil processing remains below the previous year's level

"This corresponds to a daily amount of 14.3 million barrels. The previous month's level was exceeded by around 400,000 barrels per day because maintenance work ended at some refineries and a new refinery went into operation."

"However, this did little to alter the weak overall picture. Crude oil processing remained below the previous year's level for the sixth consecutive month. According to the NBS, the decline in September was 5.4%. On the basis of the monthly figures published, the decline was as much as 7.7%."

"The same applies to the cumulative figures for the first nine months. Here, the NBS reported crude oil processing of 531.3 million tons, or 14.15 million barrels per day, and a decline of 1.6% compared to the same period last year. Based on the monthly figures published, the corresponding decline is just over 4%."