China’s oil demand is estimated to rebound to 14.26 million barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter of 2022 after the country’s zero-COVID policy dampened consumption in the first quarter, a senior researcher from China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) said. Oil consumption was assessed at 13.9 million bpd in the first quarter to March 31, down 3% from a year earlier, Dai Jiaquan, director of CNPC’s oil market research department, told an online seminar on Thursday. The reduced oil demand followed stringent mobility restrictions across China, including a two-stage lockdown in financial hub of Shanghai which could reduce fuel demand by 200,000 barrels per day, having recorded thousands of daily COVID-19 cases since March. “The local COVID-19 outbreak will continue to […]