Apparent consumption of refined oil rose 3.3% in 2012

China’s apparent consumption of refined oil rose 3.3 percent year-on-year to 250.8 million tons in 2012, the National Development and Reform Commission, the country’s top economic planning body, said in a statement on its website on Monday.

Apparent consumption refers to the mathematical sum of production plus imports minus exports.

The country’s crude oil production increased 1.6 percent year-on-year to 204.59 million tons in 2012, while refined oil production grew 4.1 percent year-on-year to 257.26 million tons. By the end of December, refined oil stocks increased 680,000 tons from a month earlier or 1 million tons from a year earlier, the statement said.

China’s apparent consumption of gas was 147.1 billion cubic meters in 2012, up 13 percent year-on-year. The country’s gas output rose 6.5 percent year-on-year to 107.7 billion cu m, while gas imports, including LNG, surged 31.1 percent year-on-year to 42.5 cu m.