Incredibly Bullish Story on Oil: China's Oil Demand 2nd Highest on Record

Recent demand -- 2nd highest in China's history -- comes two months after China set record for greatest demand for oil.

China's apparent oil demand in February rose 10.1% year over year to 36.65 million metric tons (mt), or an average 9.58 million b/d, according to Platts' analysis of Chinese government data. This is the second strongest demand level on record, occurring two months after hitting an all-time high.

Oil demand in February was 4.2% higher than January's 9.19 million b/d, and just a tad lower than the all-time high reached in December of 9.62 million b/d. The rebound in oil demand, after a dip in January, was attributed to increased crude throughput by several refineries ahead of scheduled turnarounds and higher production by other plants coming back from planned maintenance.

This comes before the Japanese nuclear disaster. 

For comparison, according to Wikipedia:

• US oil consumption is approximately 21 million bbls per day. Domestic production is only 6 million bbls per day. 

If North Dakota gets to 1 million bbls/day, North Dakota will be producing 1/6 of America's domestic oil, assuming current trends in the US continue.