Saudi Arabia ranks among China’s top oil suppliers for the ninth consecutive month
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest oil exporter, maintained its lead over suppliers to China for the ninth consecutive month last August.
Data from China’s General Administration of Customs showed Monday that Saudi oil imports rose 53% from the previous year to 8.06 million tons, equivalent to 1.96 million barrels per day.
This compares with 1.58 million barrels per day in July and 1.24 million in August last year.
The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies, within the OPEC+ group, decided last July to ease production cuts and increase supplies by an additional two million barrels a day, by raising production by 0.4 million barrels a day every month from August to December. In July, OPEC’s output increased by 640,000 barrels per day to 26.66 million barrels per day.
China’s imports of Russian crude oil stood at 6.53 million tons last August, at 1.59 million barrels per day, up from 1.56 million barrels a day the previous July.
“The big difference in Saudi supplies is due to Beijing’s decision to cut the shares of crude oil imports to independent refining firms that prefer Russia’s Espo mix.”
Crude imports from Malaysia more than doubled from levels a year ago to 1.75 million tons. Dealers said refining companies may have renamed Venezuelan heavy oil, previously passed as bitumen into Malaysian crude after Beijing imposed huge import taxes on the fuel mixture.
No imports from Iran or Venezuela have been recorded since the beginning of the year.
