Refining margins and domestic demand for oil products remain weak
Chinese refiners to feel the squeeze
China’s crude refining throughput is set to decline quarter-on-quarter in Q1 2022, amid mounting pressure from multiple fronts
China’s crude runs slowed in the first two months of this year, particularly in the northeast of the country, where the government’s desire for clean air during the Winter Olympics has led to a pause on emission-intensive industrial activities, including refining. Some refineries—mostly independent operators in the eastern province of Shandong—started to reduce activity in January. Crude runs in Shandong had dipped below two-thirds of provincial capacity by the second half of the month. But the Olympics have forced deeper cuts, with the biggest impact falling on state-owned refineries in the Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei regions, where state-controlled firms CNPC, Sinopec and Cnooc operate clos
Also in this section
17 February 2026
The 25th WPC Energy Congress, taking place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 26–30 April 2026, will bring together leaders from the political, industrial, financial and technology sectors under the unifying theme “Pathways to an Energy Future for All”
17 February 2026
Siemens Energy has been active in the Kingdom for nearly a century, evolving over that time from a project-based foreign supplier to a locally operating multi-national company with its own domestic supply chain and workforce
17 February 2026
Eni’s chief operating officer for global natural resources, Guido Brusco, takes stock of the company’s key achievements over the past year, and what differentiates its strategy from those of its peers in the LNG sector and beyond
16 February 2026
As the third wave of global LNG arrives, Wood Mackenzie’s director for Europe gas and LNG, Tom Marzec-Manser, discusses with Petroleum Economist the outlook for Europe’s gas market in 2026
