China's refineries to cut Feb crude runs

CHINA'S top refineries will trim their crude oil processing in February to the lowest in four months after running hard in winter to meet a seasonal demand spike and ensure ample supplies during Chinese New Year holidays.!

The cut will come as some refineries plan to start regular maintenance from this month and others have no incentive to raise crude throughput because they are still saddled with refining losses.!

The 12 plants, which make up nearly a third of China's capacity and are located mostly in coastal areas, plan to process 2.91 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil in February, down from the actual 2.93 million bpd in January, a Reuters poll showed.!

The February volumes, about 89 percent of the plants' refining capacity, are roughly the same as year-ago levels.

China Petroleum and Chemical Corp (Sinopec), the largest refiner in Asia, will start routine maintenance of a 160,000 bpd crude oil unit at its largest refinery, Zhenhai, from mid February, which would cut its daily crude oil throughput in February by about 14 per cent from January. Reuters