China crude oil imports hold at strong levels in June
BEIJING (Reuters) — China imported 36.11 MMt, or 8.79 MMbpd of crude oil in June, customs data showed on Thursday, again making the country the world's top buyer for the month.
June imports were up 17.9% from a year earlier, according to Reuters calculations, although shipments dipped 2.9% from May's figure, which was the second-highest on record.
Strong demand is being driven by low oil prices and growth in sports utility vehicle sales, said Neil Beveridge, a senior analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein in Hong Kong. Appetite for imports is also being stoked by declining domestic output.
Imports compared with average shipments to the United States in June of 7.94 MMbpd, according to Reuters calculations based on weekly US data.
For the first six months of 2017, China shipped in 212 MMt of crude, or 8.55 MMbpd, up 13.8% on the same period in 2016, according to customs.
Imports had grown to the second highest on record in May, amid concerns over tightening crude supply in Asia as OPEC and other producers extended production cuts to March 2018.
Imports of natural gas in the first six months of the year were up 15.9% at 31.09 MMt, while imports of refined oil products fell by 2.8% to 15.03 MMt in the first half of the year, the customs data showed.
Reporting by Cheng Fang, Dominique Patton and Tom Daly; Editing by Joseph Radford and Richard Pullin
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