China's oil output slightly up in July

BEIJING -- China's crude oil output rose slightly year on year last month, according to data released Wednesday by the country's top economic planner.

The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement that crude oil production stood at 17.29 million tons in July, up 0.3 percent from a year earlier.

Last month, the country refined 37.9 million tons of crude oil, up 10.9 percent year on year. Refined oil products rose by 8.5 percent to 23.28 million tons, the commission said.

Apparent consumption, calculated usually by production plus imports minus exports, of refined oil products increased 4.8 percent from a year earlier to 23.23 million tons.

In July, natural gas output rose 12 percent to 9.4 billion cubic meters, while imports surged 35.1 percent to 4.7 billion cubic meters.

Apparent consumption of natural gas climbed 16.9 percent year on year to 13.3 billion cubic meters, according to the statement.