China’s refining recovery looks set to stall
Crude oil throughput at refineries broke records in October, but the market will not fully get back on track until next year
China’s refineries were busy in October as they processed record volumes of crude oil to keep up with strong holiday-driven demand. But the near-term outlook appears challenging as domestic overcapacity will continue to grow while overseas demand will remain weak. Crude oil throughput at Chinese refineries last month reached a highest-ever level of 59.82mn t, up 2.6pc from a year ago and equivalent to 14.15mn bl/d, according to figures from China’s statistics bureau released on Monday. That compares with 14.01mn bl/d in September and topped the previous record of 14.14mn bl/d set in June. Petrol and diesel demand picked up last month as more motorists hit the road for long-distance driving d

Also in this section
3 July 2025
European Commission introduces new flexibilities for member states to ease compliance with headline goal
1 July 2025
Supportive government policy, deforestation threat and economic opportunity drive forward the region’s monetisation of forest carbon
27 June 2025
TotalEnergies’ delayed FID for its Venus project will likely set back first oil, but Windhoek has other irons in the fire
26 June 2025
Last year was one of records for renewables but also for oil, gas and coal, as the energy transition progresses in an increasingly uneven way, according to the Energy Institute’s latest annual report