China's oil demand to rise as economy picks up (2)

The price of crude oil and of China's crude imports will both rise in the long run, Liao said.

In fact, China's "apparent oil consumption", defined as its domestic output plus its net imports, began to increase late in the third quarter following a decline for several months.

In September, the country's consumption of crude oil went up by 9.1 percent year-on-year, showing its strongest increase since February 2011, according to statistics from Platts, an energy information provider.

For the entire month, 40.12 million metric tons of oil were used in the country, an amount equal to about 9.8 million barrels a day.

China's oil use came to 8.95 million barrels a day in August, 9.2 million in July and 9 million in June, according to Platts.

"Refineries' output and net imports indicated a steady rise in oil demand in the third quarter in China," said Song Yenling, senior analyst at Platts.

China imported 20 million tons of crude in September, up 9.13 percent from August.

That was the first rebound seen in China's crude imports and processing in four months, a time in which industrial activity increased, according to government data.

Recommended Features: [Special]'Made in China' Revisited From 'Made in China' to 'Created in China' A Journey to Cultural Renaissance Gold collection issued to mark 'Year of Snake' China: A Fast-growing Force in IPR IPR in China: Local Roots Bearing Global Fruits IPR in China: Causes for the Thriving Cause Caofeidian coal wharf put into use Canton Fair wraps up on Sunday