China's oil, gas output up in Jan

BEIJING - China's crude oil and natural gas output both marked year-on-year rises in January, new data from the country's top economic planner shows.

The National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement released Thursday that China's domestic crude oil production stood at 17.7 million tons last month, up 3.6 percent from the same period last year.

The country refined 38.13 million tons of crude oil last month, up 5.3 percent year on year, while refined oil products rose by 5.9 percent to 23.52 million tons, the statement said.

Apparent consumption of oil products increased 5.7 percent to 20.48 million tons, it said.

In January, China's natural gas output rose 14.4 percent to 11.2 billion cubic meters, while natural gas imports surged 42.2 percent to 4.8 billion cubic meters.

Apparent consumption of natural gas climbed 20 percent year on year to 16.4 billion cubic meters, according to the statement.