Secret China and slow refineries ..Reuters news China doesn't disclose the volumes of crude flowing into or out of strategic and commercial stockpiles, but an estimate can be made by deducting the amount of crude processed from the total of crude available from imports and domestic output.
The total volume of crude available to refiners from imports and domestic output in the first 10 months of 2023 was 15.54 million bpd, but refinery processing was 14.86 million bpd, meaning that 680,000 bpd was added to storage tanks.
Overall, it appears that the IEA's forecast for China's demand growth is far above its increase in actual crude oil imports, and the gap cannot be explained by changes in domestic output or inventories.
OPEC's estimate of China's demand growth in 2023 of 1.14 million bpd appears to be far more accurate and likely to eventuate.