2010-12-21 17:14

BEIJING - China consumed more oil in November compared with the same period last year as temperatures dropped, China's top economic planner, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), said Tuesday.

China's November apparent oil consumption -- domestic production plus imports minus exports -- jumped 15.2 percent year-on-year to 20.07 million tons.

Apparent natural gas consumption in November increased 13.3 percent month-on-month to 10.2 billion cubic meters. The NDRC said Chinese oil consumption has remained at a high level since November but that diesel shortages in some regions have eased after producers increased supply.

NDRC data shows November daily average diesel consumption hit an all-time high of 438,667 tons, with total diesel consumption in the month jumping 21.4 percent year-on-year to 13.16 million tons.

Data also shows China's domestic crude oil output in the first 11 months rose 6.7 percent year-on-year to 184.22 million tons while crude oil imports in the same period totaled 207.38 million tons, up 18.3 percent year-on-year.

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The crude oil data shows China's dependence on imported oil was about 53 percent in the January-to-November period. According to the NDRC, China refined 350.72 million tons of crude oil in the January-November period, up 13.3 percent year-on-year.

China produced 86.2 billion cubic meters of natural gas from January to November, up 12.5 percent year-on-year, while its imports of the gas in the same period surged 130 percent year-on-year to 15.3 billion cubic meters.