That came as many refineries curbed output or conducted maintenance in the face of weaker profit-margins.

June imports by the world's largest crude oil buyer came in at 39.88 million tonnes, according to Reuters calculations based on data from the General Administration of Customs data.

That works out as 9.7 million barrels per day (bpd), compared to 9.47 million bpd in May and a record of 10.64 million bpd in April.