Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- China, the world’s second-biggest energy consumer, processed 29 percent more crude oil in January than a year earlier as the economic recovery spurred demand, the China Petroleum & Chemical Industry Association said.
Crude oil processing volume reached 30.14 million metric tons last month while oil-product output increased 24 percent to 18.59 million tons, the industry body said on its Web site.
The Chinese economy, which expanded at the fastest pace in the fourth quarter since 2007, will grow four times faster than the U.S. in 2010, the United Nations said in December. China’s apparent oil demand may rise more than 5 percent compared with a 3.7 percent gain last year, China National Petroleum Corp. said on Feb. 4.
China processed 500,000 tons more crude oil last month than it did in December while oil product output in January was 310,000 tons more than a month earlier, the association said.
