RTRS:UPDATE 1-China end-Nov crude oil stocks down 2.85 pct on month
* Crude stocks down for 2nd straight mth
* Comes after deadly pipeline explosion
* Fuel inventories down for 5th mth in a row (Adds detail)
BEIJING, Dec 24 (Reuters) - China's commercial crude oil inventories fell for a second straight month in November, official news agency Xinhua said on Tuesday, with some refineries drawing on crude stockpiles after a pipeline blast in eastern China killed 62 people.
The late-November explosion in the port of Qingdao was the most lethal ever at Sinopec Corp , forcing the nation's top refiner to adjust oil refining operations across its plants.
Refined fuel stocks fell 2.7 percent from end-October, with kerosene inventory diving 8.06 percent, diesel stocks falling 3.68 percent and gasoline stocks declining 0.3 percent, Xinhua said in its China OGP newsletter.
The introduction of greener fuel in the world's second-largest oil consumer contributed to the drop in inventories of low-quality fuel, the newsletter said.
China is moving to the national IV standard, similar to the Euro IV standard, for gasoline nationwide from January as it moves to clean up smoggy air.
The newsletter did not provide 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.
China's implied oil demand rose 1.5 percent in November from the preceding month to a five-month high, as two major refineries restarted after an overhaul, but full-year growth is heading for the weakest rise in at least five years.