China Oil Consumption Hits a Record High

China's consumption of apparent crude oil and refined oil products hit a record high in the first half of the year, totaling 173.03 million tons and 106.112 million tons respectively, up 6.8 percent and 9.6 percent on the previous year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the "apparent consumption" represents the sum of net imports and output but excludes inventory.

Crude oil output rose by 1.7 percent to 93.31 million tons and refined oil output increased by 7.2 percent to 95.972 million tons.

The net imports of crude oil over the same period hit 79.72 million tons, up 18.4 percent, while that for refined oil reached 10.14 million tons, down 15.7 percent, customs figures show.

An analyst with the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association said oil output in the old oil fields in northeast China was on the decline, but it was boosted by western and offshore oil fields.