Chinese data showing robust growth in implied oil demand supported the price of Brent crude yesterday, despite the spectre of slowing global growth and excess supplies.

Apparent demand for September, which takes into account estimated net imports of oil products and crude that is processed, was 7.1 per cent higher than the same period a year ago, at 10.3m barrels a day. This is the fastest growth since June 2013.

The better than expected data shed a positive light on the needs of refineries, factories and car owners.

ICE December Brent, the international oil benchmark, rose 54 cents to $85.81 a barrel in afternoon trading. Traders are holding out for a pick-up in demand from the world’s largest energy consumer to support the price of oil, which has fallen 25 per cent since a mid-June high of about $115 a barrel.

“The key question is, can China continue this pace of demand for the rest of the year and into next year – does it have the appetite?” said Abhishek Deshpande, oil analyst at Natixis.

“If oil demand grows at this rate, they can sop up the glut that is out there.”

A boost in North American production has coincided with sustained output from Libya and Iraq, despite the violence in both countries. At the same time demand has slowed amid sluggish economic growth in Europe and Asia, creating an oil surplus.

Stockpiling by Chinese oil companies and the filling up of the country’s strategic petroleum reserve are being watched closely by analysts for a sense of how sustainable demand is.

“Prices have fallen so low that the trading arm of PetroChina, Chinaoil, found last week’s price levels low enough to start buying crude oil from the Middle East,” said David Hufton at broker PVM.

But such opportunistic buying could be weaker in future, said Amrita Sen at London-based consultancy Energy Aspects. “The outlook for the last quarter remains more challenging.”

As a meeting of finance ministers of 21 Asia-Pacific economies draws near, she added: “Beijing will want blue skies at all costs. Smog is once again reaching dangerous levels in northern China, prompting officials in Beijing and neighbouring Hebei province to cut industrial production and suspend construction work. The government also mandated a six-day public holiday in early November to curb congestion in Beijing. This will inevitably impact economic activity and oil demand.”

Although industrial output numbers signalled a big improvement, separate data showed Chinese economic growth easing in the third quarter to its weakest since the 2008-09 financial crisis.

Fears of global economic weakness and reduced demand, as voiced by the International Monetary Fund, the International Energy Agency and Opec, have weighed on the price of oil. Some energy market watchers had expected Opec, led by its largest producer Saudi Arabia, to cut supply in defence of higher prices. But this is a policy the cartel has so far not pursued.