April 11 (Bloomberg) -- China's crude oil im****ts jumped 25 percent in
March to a record as state-controlled refiners increased fuel
production to end shortages in the fastest- growing major economy.
Im****ts rose to 17.3 million metric tons, about 4.1 million barrels a
day, the Customs General Administration of China said on its Web site
today, compared with 13.86 million tons a year earlier. The nation
ex****ted 400,000 tons.
China Petrochemical Corp. and China National Petroleum Corp. are
running their refineries at full capacity to bolster gasoline and
diesel supplies. The worst snowstorms in five decades disrupted fuel
distribution in January and February. Shortages deepened as factories
re-opened after the weeklong Lunar New Year holidays and increased
their production.
``The record im****ts show especially strong demand from state oil
companies who are boosting crude processing to end the domestic supply
shortfall,'' Jason Wu, an oil analyst with China International Futures
(Shanghai) Co., said by telephone from Shanghai today.
Crude im****ts rose 15 percent to 45.53 million tons in the first three
months, with the cost increasing 91 percent to $30 billion. The March
oil im****t bill reached $11.7 billion as international crude prices
climbed. China ex****ted 580,000 tons of oil in the quarter.
U.S., Japan
China's oil im****ts are the third-highest in the world, trailing only
the U.S., which bought about 10 million barrels a day last year, and
Japan, which ****pped in about 4.8 million barrels a day in February.
Oil-product im****ts rose 14 percent to 9.08 million tons in the first
three months as refiners strained to end fuel shortages. They reached
3.13 million tons last month. Ex****ts of oil products fell 5.6 percent
to 3.61 million tons in the quarter and were 1.19 million tons last
month.
China Petrochemical, known as Sinopec Group and China National
Petroleum, the country's two largest oil refiners, will run their
refineries at full capacity to increase oil-product supplies disrupted
by the snowstorms, the National Development and Reform Commission said
Feb. 20.
China shut 7 percent of its coal-fired power plants in January after
the heaviest snowstorms since 1954 paralyzed power grids and delayed
deliveries of the fuel.
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