August Oil and Gas Industry Market Analysis

Summary: In August, the oil industry generally operated smoothly, crude oil production fell slightly, refinery processing maintained a relatively high load, and refined oil resources were more abundant. Consumption growth slowed but remained at a relatively high level. The summer, Shenzhen Universiade and other key oil needs have been effectively guaranteed.

Crude oil output fell slightly. According to statistics from the industry newsletter (the same below), crude oil production in August was 16.9 million tons, down 2% year-on-year. From January to August, crude oil production was 135.79 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.6%.

Crude oil imports continue to expand. August crude oil imports were 21.03 million tons, an increase of 10.4%. From January to August, crude oil imports reached 167.67 million tons, an increase of 8.7% over the same period of last year.

Refinery processing has grown steadily. In August, the crude oil processing volume was 33.63 million tons, an increase of 3.3% year-on-year; the refined oil production was 20.87 million tons, an increase of 3.6% year-on-year. From January to August, crude oil processing volume increased by 5.5%; refined oil production increased by 5.8%.

The consumption of refined oil products kept growing. In August, the apparent consumption of refined oil was 19.43 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 2.2%, of which: gasoline increased by 4.6%; diesel increased by 1.2%. From January to August, the apparent consumption of refined oil was 159.87 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 6.1%.

Refined oil stocks are basically normal. At the end of August, inventory was 1.64 million tons higher than the same period of last year and was at a normal level.

Natural Gas Industry Operation Since the beginning of this year, domestic natural gas production has grown steadily, imports have continued to expand, new pipelines have been put into production, consumption has remained relatively high, and supply and demand have generally remained stable.

Domestic production has increased steadily and supply capacity has increased. According to statistics from the industry newsletter (the same below), natural gas production during the period from January to August was 66.7 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 7%.

The number of imports continued to increase, and import channels were further broadened. From January to August, imported natural gas was approximately 20.2 billion cubic meters, which was nearly double the year-on-year increase. The proportion of imported resources in total domestic consumption increased by 8 percentage points year-on-year. In late May, CNPC Jiangsu Rudong LNG project went into operation and the import channels were further expanded.

Apparent consumption has increased significantly, and power generation gas has remained at a high level. From January to August, the apparent consumption of natural gas was 84.2 billion cubic meters, a year-on-year increase of 21.7%. In the first four months, as the weather gradually warmed, the average daily gas consumption fell from the peak month by month, but it still maintained a relatively high rate of increase year-on-year; after May, the demand for gas gradually increased and the power generation gas grew faster. In the first 8 months, CNPC West-East Gas Pipeline Co., Ltd. accumulated gas supply to six gas-fired power plants in Henan and Jiangsu, which increased by more than 60% year-on-year, ensuring the full operation of gas-fired generating units. The CNOOC Fujian LNG project also has a significant increase in gas for power generation.

The rapid development of pipeline network construction, gas storage gas injection according to schedule. The Shaanxi-Beijing line was completed at the beginning of the year and the booster booster project was accelerated; three Qinshen Lines (Qinghuangdao-Shenyang) were fully completed; the northeast and north China pipeline networks were connected; the West-East Gas Pipeline II project was put into full production by the end of June. Central Asian natural gas can reach the Pearl River Delta region. Dagang’s gas storage, which was responsible for the winter peaking task in North China, started gas injection from April. As of the end of August, cumulative gas injection volume increased by 100 million cubic meters from the same period of last year.