China refined the least crude in four months as fuel demand in the world’s second-largest oil consumer slowed amid a cooling economy. Processing in the January-to-February period fell 1 percent from a year earlier to 78.78 million metric tons, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on its website today. That’s equivalent to an average of 9.79 million barrels a day, the lowest rate since October. The bureau in Beijing combines data for the two months, citing distortions from the week-long Lunar New Year holiday, whose timing differs each year. Refiners are cutting oil processing as the pace of China’s economic expansion slows. Benchmark U.S. crude futures dropped the past three days, the longest losing streak in more than two months, after data on March 8 showed an 18.1 percent slump in exports. Industrial output rose 8.6 percent in January-February from a year earlier, the weakest for […]