China's crude oil imports are projected to exceed 160 mln tons in 2007, China Petroleum & Chemical Corp (Sinopec) said in an internal publication.

China imported 145 mln tons of crude oil in 2006, up 14.5 pct year-on-year, the General Administration of Customs data shows.

China's refinery processing output was up 6.3 pct last year while crude oil output rose 1.7 pct that means domestic refineries will source more overseas crude.

Sinopec and China National Petroleum Corp's refineries are concentrated in eastern and southern China. In 2006 crude imports for the two regions totaled 80.3 mln tons, accounting for 55 pct of the total.

The two oil firms are expected to see about 100 mln tons of processing capacity coming onstream per year through 2010 with refineries in eastern and southern China accounting for 70 pct.

Source:佚名