*China imported 10.37mn b/d of crude oil in April according to freshly-released official stats, down 2mn b/d on March’s near-record 12.37mn b/d (MEES, 28 April), though still above the 2022 average of 10.21mn b/d (MEES, 27 January). Despite the April dip, average 4M 2023 volumes of 10.91mn b/d were still up 4.7% year on year and keep 2023 on trend to top the annual record of 10.86mn b/d set in 2020.
*Though Q2 is normally refinery maintenance season, when imports could be expected to ease, latest figures from data intelligence firm Kpler suggest that the April fall is more of a blip (and in part a function of the massive March figure) than a structural trend. (CONTINUED - 786 WORDS)
