China’s refining recovery looks set to stall

Crude oil throughput at refineries broke records in October, but the market will not fully get back on track until next year

China’s refineries were busy in October as they processed record volumes of crude oil to keep up with strong holiday-driven demand. But the near-term outlook appears challenging as domestic overcapacity will continue to grow while overseas demand will remain weak. Crude oil throughput at Chinese refineries last month reached a highest-ever level of 59.82mn t, up 2.6pc from a year ago and equivalent to 14.15mn bl/d, according to figures from China’s statistics bureau released on Monday. That compares with 14.01mn bl/d in September and topped the previous record of 14.14mn bl/d set in June. Petrol and diesel demand picked up last month as more motorists hit the road for long-distance driving d