China Crude Stockpiles Fall Most Since February; Gasoline Gains

China's commercial oil inventories fell last month by the most since February as the nation's refineries raised processed volumes to a record.

The stockpiles, which exclude state reserves, dropped 3.5 percent at the end of October from a month earlier, according to a report e-mailed today by China Oil, Gas & Petrochemicals, a publication by the official Xinhua News Agency. Levels declined to 30.6 million metric tons, according to government data compiled by Bloomberg.

China's crude-refining volume advanced to a record 39.9 million tons last month, according to government data. On a daily basis, processing rates were near the peak of 9.5 million barrels in September.

Gasoline stockpiles gained 5.7 percent in October, kerosene rose 0.7 percent, and diesel fell 2.5 percent, according to OGP.

OGP stopped publishing outright stockpile levels in July 2010. Inventory levels calculated by Bloomberg News are based on percentage changes that OGP provides monthly and volumes given by the publication up to July 2010.