China Cuts September Oil Processing to 4-Month Low

By Winnie Zhu and Wang Ying

Oct. 20 (Bloomberg) -- China's crude-oil processing in September fell to the lowest in four months after refiners cut fuel output because of high stockpiles.

Chinese refineries reduced oil processing to 28.3 million metric tons of crude, or 6.89 million barrels a day, down from the July record of 30.3 million tons and the lowest since May, the China Mainland Marketing Research Co., which compiles data for the National Bureau of Statistics in Beijing, said in a faxed statement today.

The world's biggest energy consumer after the U.S. had slashed refinery operations rate to 29.2 million tons in August from a record in July, when the government increased stockpiles to ensure supplies during the Olympic Games.

China cut gasoline and diesel imports to the lowest in seven months in September after domestic demand fell, customs figures showed last week. The Chinese economy, the world's fourth largest, expanded 9 percent in the third quarter, the slowest pace since 2003.

The country's fuel consumption growth may decline to an average 4 percent in the next two to three months, Gong Jinshuang, an analyst with China National Petroleum Corp., said Oct. 15. Fuel demand gained about 5.5 percent in the first eight months from a year earlier.

Coal production rose 11 percent to 228.7 million tons in September, according to the statement. Crude-oil production increased 2.5 percent to 15.6 million tons.

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                   Sept.    % Change   Jan.-Sept.   % Change
===============================================================
Crude              15.57      2.5        141.897        2
Crude Processing   28.25      3.7        257.94         5.5
Gasoline            5.28      9.7         46.6          4.6
Kerosene            1.03      4.1          8.69        -0.3
Diesel             11.31     11.8        100.4          9.9
Ethylene            0.8      -8            7.88         1.1
Gas                 6.15      6.6          56.5         13
Coal              228.7      10.8       1,933.9         14.4
Electricity       289.2       3.4       2,607.2          9.9
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To contact the reporters on this story: Wang Ying in Beijing at wang30@bloomberg.net; Winnie Zhu in Shanghai at wzhu4@bloomberg.net