China’s oil demand slowed in September, only growing 3.1% year on year to 36.63 million metric tonnes. This was second month in a row that demand slipped to less than nine million barrels per day, according to Platts analysis based on the Chinese government’s crude oil statistics.

However Calvin Lee at Platts added that for the whole of 2011 growth would be “pretty solid”, with experts expecting China’s overall oil demand to grow by about 6-7% compared with last year.