China’s oil demand to grow

China’s oil demand is estimated to rebound to 14.26 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of 2022 after the country’s zero-COVID policy dampened consumption in the first quarter, a senior researcher from China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said.

Oil consumption was assessed at 13.9 million bpd in the first quarter to March 31, down 3per cent from a year earlier, Dai Jiaquan, director of CNPC’s oil market research department, told an online seminar on Thursday.

The reduced oil demand followed stringent mobility restrictions across China, including a two-stage lockdown in financial hub of Shanghai which could reduce fuel demand by 200,000 barrels per day, having recorded thousands of daily COVID-19 cases since March.

“The local COVID-19 outbreak will continue to weigh on China’s oil consumption in April and we expect the demand to show positive growth in May,” said Dai. The transport ministry had expected a 20per cent drop in road traffic and a 55per cent fall in flights during the three-day Qingming holiday in early April.

Dai said the CNPC think tank has lowered its view on second-quarter demand by 180,000 bpd from its previous assessment.