China's oil demand in June rose by 1.1%, the slowest since April 2009
Chinese implied oil demand rose by only 1.1% in June from a year earlier, its slowest growth in more than two years. Heavy plant maintenance and upgrades, poor refining margins, and tightening economic policies set by Beijing are some of the key factors in the slump.
Implied demand, crude oil throughput, and net imports of refined oil products, averaged 8.97 million barrels-per-day in June, down 3.2% from May, thus slipping under the 9m bpd mark for the first time in eight months.
Year on year, the demand totalled only 17.1 million tons, according to a recent report from the National Bureau of Statistics. However, some analysts claim that the real figure is likely to be slightly higher, as many oil firms have been using oil-inventories, which were not reported by the government, to compensate for poor profit margins in refining sectors. As Beijing continues to battle against inflation, oil demand could grow slower than the projected pace of 5%-7% forecast earlier on in the year.