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China's first half oil use declines: industry group

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-07-28 15:46

China's oil consumption declined in the first half of the year as the country's economy slowed, but it would pick up growth in the second half, the main industry group said Monday.

According to the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Association (CPCIA), China's apparent consumption of crude oil dropped 2.9 percent year-on-year to 190 million tons.

The decline was 4.2 percentage points lower than that of the first quarter, Zhu Fang, deputy director of the CPCIA's information and marketing department, told Xinhua.

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Apparent consumption represents the sum of net imports and output, and can be used to estimate real consumption excluding inventory.

Apparent consumption of oil products, including gasoline, diesel and kerosene, dropped 2.6 percent to 103 million tons from last year's level, compared to a 6.5 percent year-on-year decrease in the first quarter.

The decline in oil use was a result of China's weakening real economy, and as China's economy bottomed out, oil consumption would rebound in the second half, said Zhu.

However, he pointed out that the revival might not be fast, as so far there had been no clear sign of recovery in the country's exports.

China's gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 7.9 percent year on year in the second quarter, up from 6.1 percent in the first quarter and 6.8 percent in the fourth quarter last year.

The country's exports totaled $521.53 billion, representing a decrease of 21.8 percent over the same period last year due to sluggish external demand.