OREANDA-NEWS. November 22, 2012. China's crude oil imports in October rose 13.8 percent from a year earlier to about 5.58 million barrels per day, the third-highest pace this year, customs data showed, as refiners ramped up output to replenish stocks and as new facilities came onstream.

China, the world's largest crude importer after the United States, shipped in 23.68 million tonnes of crude oil last month, data from the General Administration of Customs showed.

The barrels per day imports were 14 percent higher than in September.

For the first 10 months, China bought 7.1 percent more than a year earlier, at 224.07 million tonnes, or about 5.36 million bpd, the data showed.