OREANDA-NEWS. July 08, 2011. China recorded a 23.4-percent year-on-year increase in investment in oil refining industry to 41.9 billion yuan for the first five months of 2011, reports National Development & Reform Commission.

In May, investment in the industry hit 13.3 billion yuan, up 25 percent from the same period last year.

During those five months, China implemented 548 projects in oil refining industry, down 7.4 percent year-on-year. Of that total, some 249 projects were newly implemented, a fall of 17.5 percent year-on-year while completed projects numbered 137, an increase of 12.3 percent. The decrease in new and ongoing projects means late-stage investment is relatively weak. Between January and May, the country processed a total of 187 million tons of crude oil, rising 8.7 percent year-on-year.

China produced 110.39 million tons of refined oil, an increase of 9.1 percent.

Output of gasoline, kerosene, and diesel fuel respectively hit 33.2 million, 7.5 million and 69.7 million tons, growing 6.9, 6.7 and 10.4 percent year-on-year.

Apparent consumption of refined oil totaled 98.63 million tons, up 8.3 percent year-on-year. Consumption of gasoline, diesel fuel and kerosene respectively totaled 29.15 million, 62.1 million and 7.38 million tons, up 8.8, 7.7 and 12 percent respectively.

On April 6, China raised the price of refined oil. That month, the industry profited 1.4 billion yuan, up 800 million yuan from March. However, profits for the first four months fell 40.1 percent year-on-year due to the limited price hike.

In May, the industry achieved total output value that was growing 32 percent year-on-year to 271.5 billion yuan.

Profitability is still expected to rise further.