China Stock Movements - July 2015

The latest information for China showed an increase in total commercial oil inventories of 2.0 mb in May to stand at 411.4 mb, which is around 10.8 mb above the previous year at the same time. Within the components, commercial crude stocks rose by 3.2 mb, while product inventories fell by 1.2 mb.

At 254.3 mb, commercial crude stocks represented a surplus of around 2.5 mb over the same period one year earlier. This build came from higher domestic crude oil output, which increased by around 160,000 b/d to average 4.3 mb/d. Lower crude oil imports in May limited further builds in crude oil stocks.

In contrast, total product stocks in China fell by 1.2 mb to end May at 157.1 mb, which is 8.3 mb higher than a year ago at the same time. Within products, gasoline and kerosene went up, while diesel witnessed a draw. Gasoline rose by 0.8 mb, ending May at 55.1 mb, driven by higher gasoline output. Lower demand driven by the fall in passenger car sales and higher product oil prices also contributed to the build in gasoline inventories. Diesel fell by 2.4 mb to end the month of May at 87.1 mb, but remained 15.2 mb above last year at the same time. This drop came despite weak demand due to slowing Chinese macroeconomic activity.