China’s apparent oil demand contracted by 1.3% in April 2016 from a year earlier to 11.36 million barrels per day (b/d), according to a just-released analysis of Chinese government data by S&P Global Platts, the leading independent provider of information and benchmark prices for the commodities and energy markets. Refinery throughput in April averaged 10.93 million b/d, data from the China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed May 14. This was a 2.3% increase year over year and a 3% rise month over month. Net imports of key oil products however slumped 48.1% from a year earlier to an average 430,000 b/d in April, driven by sustained exports of transport fuels, according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs. The contraction in oil demand in April represented the third consecutive month of negative growth and was largely attributable to a considerable decline in gasoil and fuel oil demand, […]