The average run rate at China's state-owned refiners Sinopec, PetroChina, Sinochem and China National Offshore Oil Corp., rebounded to around 85% of the overall nameplate capacity in January from 82% in December 2018, following the easing of stocks of oil products, a monthly survey by S&P Global Platts showed Monday.
"Tracking the rebound in international crude prices, the prices of oil products also rebounded, prompting buyers to replenish stocks," a source with a PetroChina refinery said.
With the Lunar New Year holiday coming around the end of January, retail gas stations have also started to replenish stocks for the holiday driving season, which led to the drop in stocks at refineries.
In January, the combined average run rate was also about five percentage points higher from January 2018.
Both Sinopec and PetroChina have raised their run rates in January, but both Sinochem and CNOOC had cut the run rates at their sole refineries.
Three of PetroChina's refineries -- Sichuan Petrochemical, Lanzhou Petrochemical and Guangxi Petrochemical -- have raised their run rates by 12 percentage points, seven percentage points, and five percentage points, respectively, from December.
PetroChina's Ningxia Petrochemical had cut run rates by about 10 percentage points to 84%, while the remaining 13 refineries under PetroChina had maintained stable run rates on a month-on-month basis.
As for Sinopec, its 14 million mt/year Fujian Refining and Chemical Company has returned to normal operations since December 20, contributing to the overall rebound in runs. Fujian lifted its run rate to 71% of capacity in January, up from 29% in December.
Fujian was only one of the three refineries under Sinopec which has lifted run rates.
The other two are Maoming Petrochemical, and Qingdao Refining and Petrochemical, which raised run rates by five percentage points each, from last month.
Sinochem's Quanzhou refinery lowered run rates slightly to 102% in January, down from 103% in December, the second consecutive monthly drop since November.
CNOOC's Huizhou refinery continued to operate at around 91% capacity in January, down from 94% in December.
OIL PRODUCTS STOCK EASES
Stocks of oil products have eased slightly during the month compared with that of December, according to some refinery sources.
This is due mainly to the rebound in international crude prices, which prompted buyers to start replenishing stocks before the Lunar New Year.
The Lunar New Year holiday falls over February 4-10 this year.
Refinery sources from both PetroChina and Sinopec revealed that stocks have eased slightly from December.
This included PetroChina's Guangxi refinery and Sichuan refinery, as well as some of Sinopec's refineries, like Qilu Petrochemical in eastern Shandong province.
However, some sources from PetroChina's refineries in northeastern China continued to report of higher stocks, thus continuing to maintain run rates.
SURVEY COVERS 39 REFINERIES
The Platts January survey covered 39 refineries: 20 under Sinopec, 17 under PetroChina, CNOOC's Huizhou refinery and Sinochem's Quanzhou refinery. These refineries, with a combined capacity of 8.73 million b/d, plan to process 7.41 million b/d of crude in January.
Sinopec's 20 surveyed refineries plan to process 4.05 million b/d of crude in January, accounting for 88% of the total capacity, up from 84% in December. These 20 refineries account for about 78% of the company's total domestic refining capacity of 5.92 million b/d.
The 17 refineries under PetroChina plan to process 2.72 million b/d of crude in January, or 79% of its combined nameplate capacity, up from 77% in December. These 17 refineries account for around 93% of PetroChina's domestic refining capacity of 3.69 million b/d.
