China data: Sep oil product output inches up 0.8% on year, rises 2.5% on month

China's total production of LPG, naphtha, gasoline, jet fuel/kerosene, gasoil and fuel oil in September edged up 0.8% year on year, and rose 2.5% month on month, S&P Global Platts calculations based on data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Tuesday. 

     Total output for the six major oil products was 38.84 million mt in September, compared with 38.54 million mt in September 2017 and 37.90 million mt in August, Platts calculations showed. 
The year-on-year growth rate for oil products was slower in September compared with that in August, and it was also slower than that for refinery crude throughput, which rose 4.9% year on year to 51.34 million mt in September, or an average of 12.54 million b/d, NBS data showed. 

     Among the six major oil products, LPG production registered the highest year-on-year growth of 14% to 3.33 million mt in September. Naphtha output increased 11.6% year on year to 2.97 million mt last month. Jet fuel/kerosene production rose 8.7% year on year to 4.19 million mt in September. 

     Gasoline output increased 4% year on year to 11.72 million mt last month. Gasoil production however, fell 7.4% year on year to 14.54 million mt in September, and it was the fourth consecutive decline since June, according to NBS data. 

     Fuel oil output continued falling by 1.8% year on year to 2.09 million mt in September, the seventh consecutive drop since March this year, NBS data showed. NBS did not release oil products output data for January and February. 

     On month-on-month comparison, except for gasoil production which inched down 0.1% from August, output for the other five major products were all higher from August, NBS data showed. 

     In the first nine months of 2018, jet fuel/kerosene production continued to register the highest year-on-year jump of 14.4% to 35.91 million mt. 

     Meanwhile, gasoil output showed the first year-on-year decline of 0.4% over January-September, and fuel oil production saw a year-on-year fall of 10.5% in the same period, the data showed. 

    NBS typically releases key output data for oil products on a monthly basis, but does not include explanations for the changes. 

China's September output: (Unit: '000 mt unless otherwise stated) Sep '18 Sep '17* Change Aug '18 Change Crude oil 15,176 15,549 -2.4% 15,997 -5.1% Crude throughput 51,341 48,943 4.9% 50,315 2.0% LPG 3,331 2,922 14.0% 3,159 5.4% Naphtha 2,972 2,663 11.6% 2,680 10.9% Gasoline 11,721 11,270 4.0% 11,463 2.3% Jet fuel/kerosene 4,190 3,855 8.7% 4,114 1.8% Gasoil 14,535 15,697 -7.4% 14,545 -0.1% Fuel oil 2,092 2,130 -1.8% 1,938 7.9% Natural gas (Bcm) 12.18 11.23 8.5% 12.90 -5.6% 

China's January-September output: Jan-Sep 2018 Jan-Sep 2017* Change Crude oil 141,125 143,858 -1.9% Crude throughput 452,544 418,635 8.1% LPG 29,156 26,505 10.0% Naphtha 26,303 25,365 3.7% Gasoline 104,211 98,127 6.2% Jet fuel/kerosene 35,914 31,393 14.4% Gasoil 133,373 133,909 -0.4% Fuel oil 18,024 20,139 -10.5% Natural gas (Bcm) 116.17 109.39 6.2% * Figures for 2017 differ from volumes reported earlier due to NBS revisions Source: National Bureau of Statistics