China Sent 430,000 Barrels Per Day of Crude to Reserves in April

China directed an estimated 430,000 barrels per day of crude oil into strategic and commercial reserves in April, according to estimates by Reuters columnist Clyde Russell based on official data about imports, refinery throughput, and domestic production.

China does not report inventory levels. Analysts therefore compare total supply from domestic production and imports against refinery processing rates to estimate how much crude enters reserves.

China's crude oil imports fell 20 percent, or 2.4 million barrels per day, in April from the same month a year earlier. Official data placed imports at 9.25 million barrels per day, the lowest monthly figure since July 2022. Refinery throughput also declined to its lowest level since August 2022 as utilization rates were reduced.

The combination of lower imports and lower refinery runs produced the net addition to storage. The estimates cover both strategic and commercial reserves. No separate breakdown for each category was provided in the data used for the calculation.