Eastern China's Shandong province has banned approvals of new oil refining projects, a state oil major said, the latest move to tackle overcapacity in the second largest oil consumer, Reuters reported on February 19.

The ban comes on the heels of China's fuel consumption rising at its slowest clip in more than 20 years in 2013, the end to a decade of rapid demand growth that helped drive global oil prices to over $100 a barrel.

Shandong - home to a third of China's refining capacity - holds refineries that can process 189 million tonnes of oil per year, or 3.78 million barrels per day (bpd), oil major Sinopec Group said on its website ( www.sinopecnews.com.cn).

Refinery use rates in Shandong, however, stood at just 55 percent in 2012 due to a slowdown in economic growth and a lack of crude for independent refineries, Sinopec's website quoted a Shandong government commission as saying.