FX.co ★ China's oil demand recovers to pre-crisis level

After Beijing eased the restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, demand for crude oil in China started to rise. According to analysts, it has almost recovered to the level last seen before the country imposed a national lockdown to fight the COVID-19 outbreak.

Bloomberg analysts find it difficult to specify the exact level of Chinese oil demand. They estimate that the country's current consumption of crude oil reaches 13 million barrels per day, just shy of the 13.4 million barrels per day recorded in the previous year.

Leaving aside jet-fuel demand which is still below other indicators, the level of Chinese crude oil consumption could have been even higher, experts assume. At the same time, China's consumption of such products as gasoline and diesel has fully recovered as enterprises reopened and citizens began to use personal cars instead of public transport.

According to analysts, the surge in China's gasoline and diesel consumption has added pressure on oil refiners, forcing them to step up production. Consequently, Chinese refineries are purchasing more crude and the country's crude stockpiles are being reduced.

Earlier, Chinese oil demand collapsed by 20%, but now it seems to have entered the recovery phase. Trying to minimize the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic, factories are gradually getting back to work, the agency sums up.