According to data from the National Bureau of Statistics, refineries in China processed 62.7 million tons of crude Oil in September, Commerzbank's commodity analyst Carsten Fritsch notes.
"This corresponds to a volume of almost 15.3 million barrels per day and is the highest level in two years. The previous year's level was exceeded by nearly 1 million barrels per day. The Chinese consulting firm Oilchem had previously reported that refinery utilization in September had risen to its highest level this year after maintenance work was completed at some refineries."
"Therefore, the increase in processing came as no surprise. Crude Oil processing in the first nine months totaled 550 million tons (14.75 million barrels per day), up 3.7% from the previous year. This indicates that processing is set to increase for the year as a whole, after falling by 3.6% last year."