China’s oil exports soar in month of record prices

China exported significantly more crude oil and scaled back on its products imports in April, the month when oil prices hit record highs.
It also imported more crude oil in April than it had in any single month to date, according to data from the General Administration of Customs. China exported 1.18 mm tons of crude, nearly seven times more than the 168,967 tons the country shipped overseas in the same month last year. This works out to an average of 293,200 bpd.

China exports low-sulphur or sweet crudes, which in recent months have been commanding a significant price premium to the higher-sulphur Middle East grades that are a staple for the country's oil refiners. Gasoline exports, which make up the bulk of China's overseas products sales, rose 8.4 % to 605,391 tons in April on the back of strong regional prices, but also partly because refiners sought to reduce their inventories.
Oil prices hit a record high in April, with the benchmark light sweet crude futures contract in New York touching $ 58.28 a barrel Apr. 4 -- up nearly 70 % on year.

Prices at such lofty levels appear to have had an impact on China's imports of oil products, as was the case in March. Imports of fuel oil, the largest component in the product imports sector and the most deregulated product in China, fell 42.4 % to 2.13 mm tons. Diesel imports were down a sharp 90 % at 18,095 tons in April, after having already tumbled 82.4 % in March.
Domestic prices are still low compared with international levels, keeping import commitments low through to June. Imports of LPG fell 8.2 % to 540,180 tons.

Chinese refineries have been operating flat out since late last year to guarantee products supply to the domestic market, in a bid to avert the supply crunches seen in late 2003 and early 2004. This has, in turn, led to high stockpiles of gasoline and diesel at the start of this year. China's minimizing of diesel imports are pulling down inventories, and a rebound in imports is anticipated for July.
China's imports of crude, meantime, bucked the trend. First reported May 16, the country's April intake of unrefined oil was up a sizable 22.5 % at 12.25 mm tons, a record high.

This offset a fall in the combined tally for Asia's "Big 4" -- China, Japan, South Korea and India -- after a slow start to 2005.
The four countries' total crude imports in January-April stood at 157 mm tons, down 900,000 tons or just 0.57 % from the same period last year.