China draws on crude oil stockpiles while boosting refining

LAUNCESTON, Oct 23 (Reuters): Chinese refiners dipped into crude stockpiles for the second time in three months in September as they processed record volumes of oil even as imports dipped.
Refiners drew about 240,000 barrel per day (bpd) from inventories in September, a sharp reversal from August when they added about 1.32 million bpd to storage tanks.
Refiners also called on stockpiles in July, though, when refinery processing exceeded the total volume of available crude by 510,000 bpd.
The inventory draws in September and July came as China's refiners boosted throughput to meet rising domestic demand and higher fuel exports. As well, a strong rally in global oil prices has lowered the incentive to keep crude imports at elevated levels.
Meanwhile, oil prices slipped on Monday as investors continued to focus on the situation in the Middle East, where diplomatic efforts are intensifying in an attempt to contain the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Brent crude futures fell 53 cents, or 0.58 per cent, to $91.63 a barrel as of 1402 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 70 cents, or 0.79 per cent, at $87.38 a barrel.