China's refined oil products stocks fell 1 percent in August from end-July to the lowest level since December while crude oil inventories also dropped in August, the official Xinhua OGP said on Wednesday.
Diesel led the drop among refined oil products with a 1.7 percent fall to 7.33 million tonnes, the lowest since December 2016, reflecting eased glut in domestic market.
Gasoline inventory was flat from a month ago at 7.53 million tonnes while kerosene fell to 2.28 million tonnes from 2.31 million tonnes at the end of July.
Diesel demand from industrial, mining and infrastructure projects improved in August, Xinhua said.
China's crude refinery runs in August rebounded from a 10-month low hit in July. Crude imports slowed in August as some independent refiners closed amid a wave of environmental inspections.
Xinhua did not provide the outright inventory volumes.
The government rarely discloses levels of either commercial or strategic oil stocks, making it difficult to gauge real demand in the world's second-largest oil consumer.
(Reporting by Meng Meng and Aizhu Chen; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
