Oil: Asia also decreases crude oil imports
Crude imports into Asia fell a modest 1.4% last year, led by China, in the region's first annual drop in imports since pandemic shutdowns.
The daily average for 2024 stood at 26.51 million barrels per day, Reuters' Clyde Russell reported today, citing data from LSEG Oil Research. Compared to 26.88 million barrels per day in 2023.
Based on estimates of oil flows to China, LSEG Oil Research also said China's oil imports fell by an average of 210,000 barrels per day last year, or 1.9% on the year. previous.
This isn't a particularly large drop, but given that any decrease in Chinese oil imports, regardless of size, is considered virtually devastating for the oil market, this news is likely to impact prices as well.
The usual factors were cited in the report, including electric vehicle adoption rates in China, the shift from diesel to LNG for trucks and slower economic growth compared to the previous two years. However, it has recently emerged that Chinese car buyers are increasingly opting for hybrid cars rather than battery electric ones, suggesting that a turnaround in oil demand could yet occur this year.
India is forecast to overtake China as the biggest driver of global oil demand this year. According to S&P Global Commodity Insights, the subcontinent's demand growth this year is expected to increase 3.2% compared to 2023, compared with a Chinese demand growth rate of 1.7%.
For 2024, LSEG Oil Research forecasts Indian demand growth of 2.3%, equivalent to just over 100,000 barrels per day. The country is developing its refining capacity, which is considered the key reason for the demand growth prospects. Reuters' Russell notes that much of the additional oil production would be exported, effectively not reflecting domestic demand for petroleum products in India.
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The article Oil: Asia also decreases crude oil imports comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/petrolio-anche-lasia-diminuisce-le-importazioni-di-greggio/ on Mon, 06 Jan 2025 13:00:26 +0000.