China's crude oil output drops in May

BEIJING - China's crude oil output dropped 7.4 percent year on year to 16.76 million tons in May, data from the top economic planner showed.

This brings the total output for the first five months of 2016 to 84.19 million tons, down 4 percent from the same period last year, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) said Saturday in a statement.

The drop came amid plans by China's oil giants to reduce oil output due to flagging crude oil prices in 2015. Sinopec, the largest oil refiner in China, plans to cut production by 7.5 percent this year, while PetroChina, the largest oil and gas producer, aims to reduce output by 4.8 percent.

From January to May, China refined 214.33 million tons of crude oil, up 9.8 percent year on year. Output of refined oil products rose 8 percent to 133.33 million tons, while consumption of refined products rose 3.5 percent to 118.51 million tonnes.

In the same period, natural gas output rose 3.9 percent to 57.6 billion cubic meters, while imports surged 20.4 percent to 29.8 billion cubic meters.