SINGAPORE/BEIJING, - Three months into the Iran war, the oil market is coming to grips with an unexpected new reality: China, the world's largest importer, needs much less fuel than previously thought. Gasoline sales at Sinopec, which runs China's biggest network of petrol stations and is the world's largest refiner, dropped 8% on-year in April while diesel fell 6%, according to industry sources briefed on internal data.
Fuel use in China had already been falling in recent years due to slowing economic growth and the rise of electric cars and trucks, but the recent decline is especially steep and has caught industry players by surprise. Goldman Sachs estimates the drop in the use of gasoline and related products was about 20% in April, while China-basedGL Consulting put the decline at around 15%.
