China's crude oil output down in July

BEIJING - China's crude oil output dropped 8.8 percent year on year to 16.64 million tons in July, data from the country's top economic planner showed.

This brings total output for the first seven months of 2016 to 117.09 million tons, down 5.4 percent from the same period last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Saturday in a statement.

The drop came amid plans by China's oil giants to reduce oil output due to flagging crude oil prices. Sinopec, the largest oil refiner in China, and PetroChina, the largest oil and gas producer, have both lowered their oil production targets for 2016.

From January to July, China refined 299.71 million tons of crude oil, up 8.7 percent year on year. Output of refined oil products rose 6.8 percent to 185.95 million tons, while consumption of refined products rose 4 percent to 164.82 million tons.

In the seven months, natural gas output rose 2.1 percent to 77.7 billion cubic meters, while imports surged 17.9 percent to 40.8 billion cubic meters. Consumption of natural gas rose 8.8 percent year on year to 113.9 billion cubic meters, according to the NDRC.