China’s crude stock, including strategic and commercial petroleum reserves, could reach 1.15 billion barrels (b/d) in 2020, equivalent to 83 days of oil demand, according to global energy consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie’s latest statement on Monday.
According to the Wood Mackenzie's analysis, major crude oil importers such as China have been known to build their strategic reserves when prices are low, as seen in previous oil price routs.
'This could help support prices on top of a current recovery in global demand,' the consultancy group explained.
- China to take advantage of low oil prices
Commenting on China's oil market, Wood Mackenzie’s senior consultant Lei Sun said since the last oil price crash in 2014, China has been accelerating its crude imports for strategic and commercial storage from about 200 million barrels in 2014 to 900 million barrels in 2019.
'This is equivalent to about 70 days of its 2019 oil demand and 70% of its 2019 total storage capacity,' he added.
Sun explained that China is expected to continue importing crude to fill its reserves taking advantage of lower oil prices.
'But this time, China could build its crude reserves by up to 300,000 barrels per day (b/d) from March 2020 to the end of 2020, due to limitations in storage capacity, as storage capacity use reaches 90% in 2020,' Sun said, elaborating that this fill rate is also less than half of what they have seen in the last two years, providing less support to oil prices than usual this time.
- Crude imports for refining are also expected to decline
According to the analysis, with lower oil demand expectations, Chinese crude runs are expected to be lower in 2020 than in 2019, resulting in less crude imports for refining.
Weak demand and disruption caused by COVID-19 have caused China's crude runs to drop by 3.1 million b/d in February this year, leading to storage inventory build-up.
Sun said the crude balance shows that crude stocks increased by about 155 million barrels between January and February 2020, equivalent to about 2.5 million b/d, which provided some support to oil prices during this time.
'Overall, crude imports for refining and storage are expected to be around 9.5 million b/d in 2020, down 5.0%, compared to about 10.0 million b/d in 2019,' he concluded.
By Gulsen Cagatay
Anadolu Agency
energy@aa.com.tr