China's Q1 2007 crude oil demand unchanged at 7.12 mln bpd - IEA |
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Published
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Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:20
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BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - The International Energy Agency (IEA) said that it is leaving its first quarter 2007 supply and demand forecasts for China unchanged from last month at 3.7 mln and 7.12 mln barrels per day (bpd).In its monthly oil market report, the Paris-based organization said full-year 2007 supply and demand projections are also unchanged over last month at 3.7 and 7.35 mln bpd.The report said that the unchanged forecasts are the result of an anomaly in received data currently being reviewed by the agency. Following the resolution of inconsistencies in the data, the IEA said it will publish an update to its medium-term oil market report, which may contain adjustments.The IEA said that it expects China's demand in the first quarter to rise 5.4 pct, or 0.36 mln bpd, over the same period last year. Full-year demand in 2007 is also expected to rise 5.4 pct or 0.38 mln bpd year-on-year.The agency said that a sharp rise in China's crude imports in November and September suggest that China may have begun building crude oil inventories to fill its strategic petroleum reserve since the end of last summer. The report added that higher refinery runs also contributed to the increase, however.China says it is aiming to fill its strategic reserve with roughly 400 mln barrels, or 60 days worth of consumption. The country has said drawdowns will be made by a special unit of the Energy Bureau under the National Development and Reform Commission only in cases of a severe shortage.But the IEA report expressed concern that the reserves may be used for commercial purposes as the filling of the strategic reserve coincides with state-run oil company Sinopec leasing one-third of the 33-mln-barrel tanks at Zhenhai in eastern China.The Chinese government has said it would like to fill one-fourth of the reserve within the next two years, the report said, adding that some unofficial estimates at the end of December placed the reserves at more than 20 mln barrels.In December, China's diesel imports reached a two-year peak of 190,000 tons, up 40,000 tons from November following an import tax cut, the IEA said.It added that the Chinese government cut the retail price of jet fuel and gasoline at the begining of this month by about 3.8 pct rather than implementing a new oil price mechanism designed to link product prices with international crude prices.Globally, oil prices fell to 20-month lows in early January as unusually warm weather and fund repositioning lessened demand, offsetting OPEC cuts.On the supply side, December saw an increase of 110,000 bpd, bringing the total global supply to 85.4 mln bpd as strong non-OPEC growth continued, the report said.sean.mangieri@xinhuafinance.com
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China to increase crude imports from Saudi Arabia by 44,000 bpd in 2007 