Locking people in their apartments has macro effects.
From OilPrice, April 14:
- Chinese refiners are expected to cut refinery runs by 900,000 bpd.
- JLC: independent refiners in the Shandong province have seen their run rates slip further on maintenance.
- COVID lockdowns raise concerns about the immediate oil demand in the world’s top crude oil importer
China’s refiners are expected to lower their refinery runs at the biggest scale—by 900,000 barrels per day (bpd)—since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, as new COVID-related lockdowns weigh on fuel consumption, analysts and industry sources told Reuters on Thursday.
China’s demand, especially gasoline demand, has suffered in recent weeks as authorities continue with their “zero COVID” policy and lockdown large cities and areas to contain a surge in infections. Most recently, China locked down 26 million residents in the financial hub Shanghai, which hit demand as people are confined to their homes.
The return of severe lockdowns as China is battling its worst coronavirus outbreak in two years has prompted analysts to lower expectations of oil demand in the world’s top oil importer and, by extension, global oil demand for this quarter and the full year 2022.
Refiners in China are now set to reduce runs this month by nearly 1 million bpd, which would be equivalent to 6.3 percent of the average Chinese refinery production in recent months, according to Reuters calculations....
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