The world's second-largest oil consumer used 6.69 million barrels per day (bpd) last month, calculations based on official data showed, despite a fall in crude imports as refiners shunned soaring global markets.

    Car sales soared by almost half during the first four months of the year, helping drive a 20 percent rise in demand for gasoline to around 1.2 million bpd in April.

    Fuel price caps have insulated China's drivers from the full brunt of rising global crude markets, so the modest 3 to 5 percent price rise in March offered middle-class car owners little incentive to trim use.

    More price sensitive users, from farmers and fishermen to taxi drivers, have been insulated by government subsidies, and a steeper rise in late May is not expected to dent use. China raised retail prices of gasoline and diesel last Wednesday by 9.6 and 11.1 percent, one of the largest increases in recent years.

    The spring sowing season and a booming economy also pushed up diesel consumption by more than 10 percent, although shortages spreading across the southeast for most of April limited consumption in some areas.

    China's refiners have been stepping up kerosene imports in order to shift production capacity to diesel. But a wide gap with global prices is still causing shortages and China on Sunday urged its oil majors to keep rural users supplied.

    (Source: Shenzhen Daily/ Agencies)