China's crude oil output slightly up in first two months

BEIJING, March 21 (Xinhua) -- China's crude oil output grew 0.4 percent year on year to 32.08 million tonnes in the first two months of this year, official data showed.

The Jan.-Feb. output also represented a 4.1 percent growth compared with the level in the same period of 2019, as well as annual average growth of 2 percent over the past two years, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

As one of the world's largest oil buyers, China imported 89.57 million tonnes of crude oil in the reporting period, up 4.1 percent year on year.

About 114.24 million tonnes of crude oil was processed in January and February, up 15 percent year on year and 10.6 percent from two years ago, NBS data showed.

China's crude oil output expanded by 1.6 percent year on year to 195 million tonnes in 2020, with full-year imports posting a 7.3-percent surge.