China’s oil demand will rise at a faster pace this year than previously forecast amid an economic recovery, according to Deutsche Bank AG.
Consumption by the world’s second-largest crude user will increase by 4.9 percent, or 468,000 barrels a day, Soozhana Choi, Deutsche Bank’s chief oil strategist in Singapore, said in a report issued today. The bank predicted in December that growth would be 3.4 percent this year.
China’s oil demand rose for a second month to a record 10.6 million barrels a day in December, up 9.1 percent from a year earlier, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Meanwhile, gross domestic product expanded 7.9 percent in the fourth quarter compared with 7.4 percent in the previous period, snapping a seven-quarter slowdown, government figures showed on Jan. 18.
