Oil demand in China fell by 1.3% in April compared to a year earlier.
It accounted for 11.3 million barrels per day (b/d), according to new figures released by S&P Global Platts.
Oil demand registered its third consecutive month of negative growth due to a decline in gasoil and fuel oil use amid a slowed Chinese economy.
The country’s oil demand averaged 11.15 million b/d during the first four months of the year – a 0.3% reduction compared to the same period last year.
S&P Global Platts estimates China’s oil demand for this year to grow by less than 2%.
Song Yen Ling, Senior Analyst at Platts China Oil Analytics said: “Despite the fact that refineries have reduced domestic gasoil production by 2% on a year over year basis in 2016, exports have more than quadrupled during the same period, at the same time refiners have reported sluggish domestic sales of gasoil.”