Chinese crude oil output fell by 9.8 percent in September to 3.89 million bpd in continued efforts to rein in costs amid the persistent price rout. The total September output of the country stood at 15.98 million tons as the state-owned majors shuttered more fields where production costs remained too high to justify production. China is among the world’s top five producers, and according to one analyst from SIA Energy, as quoted by Reuters, the current low crude prices provide a “good excuse” for the state-owned companies to curb their activities at some of the most inefficient oilfields in the country, among them Daqing – the largest in China – and Shengli, in eastern China. Daqing, operated by CNPC, has been generating losses since the oil price slump started to really hurt. In April this year, Xinhua reported that the field had lost its operator US$740 […]