After breaking through the lowest point in February, China's oil demand has entered a rapid recovery channel. On May 22, IHS Markit, a global business information service provider, announced that China's oil demand in April reached 89% of the same period last year, at about 12.7 million barrels per day. The oil demand in early May is expected to reach 92% of the same period last year.
At the same time, the European and American markets are gradually resuming work. The sustainability of this recovery seems to be driving rapid repricing in some markets. The latest crude oil prices show that the prices of WTI and Brent crude oil have rebounded to around $ 30 per barrel.
During the epidemic, China's crude oil imports continued to increase
Unexpectedly, during the epidemic, China almost became the "only bright spot" in the global energy market.
In response to the problem of "importing Saudi crude oil" at the end of March, Sinopec, a major crude oil importer, also stated that it has always emphasized the diversification of import channels in order to ensure the stable supply of resources to the greatest extent. I will buy the goods if the bid is low. This is the basic business philosophy.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, China imported 40.431 million tons of crude oil in April this year and 41.1 million tons in March. In the first four months of this year, China's crude oil imports totaled 170 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 1.7%.
According to Bloomberg News, there are currently a total of 117 super-large crude oil carriers coming to Chinese ports, each tanker can transport 2 million barrels of oil, is expected to arrive between mid-May and mid-August. Bloomberg said that if these tankers are carrying standard-size crude oil cargo, this means that China will have at least 230 million barrels of crude oil imported in the next three months.
Oil-producing countries have adjusted prices for China
Russia:
With the rise in oil prices, on May 21, Russian oil companies also announced that they would increase the price of crude oil exports to Asia. According to the latest market news, Russian oil company Surgut sold the July Pacific (ESPO) pipeline crude oil at a premium of about 3.4-3.5 dollars per barrel.
Saudi Arabia:
Not only Russia, as early as the rise in oil prices, Saudi Arabia has notified some Asian refineries to reduce crude oil delivery.
According to foreign media reports, Saudi Aramco has issued a notice to some refineries in Asia that June will significantly reduce the amount of crude oil. It is understood that 12 refineries have received notice of reduction in delivery, of which 8 refineries have achieved a reduction of 20-30%. These refineries are mainly concentrated in China and India.
In addition to reducing crude oil exports to Asia, Saudi Arabia has also raised its export prices. Saudi Arabia plans to increase the price of Arab light oil sold to Asia in June to US $ 6.50 / barrel, which is US $ 1.40 / barrel higher than the average price in Oman / Dubai. At the same time, in order to raise international oil prices, Saudi Arabia also promised to reduce the output of crude oil by another 1 million barrels per day from June.
Kuwait:
It is reported that Kuwait set the official price of crude oil sold to Asia in June to a discount of 6 US dollars per barrel from the benchmark price in Oman / Dubai, which is 1.8 US dollars higher than the previous month's pricing. In other words, the price of Kuwait ’s crude oil exported to Asia rose in June.
Iran:
It is worth mentioning that Iran, another major oil-producing country, made a completely opposite decision. Iran announced on May 12 that it plans to reduce the price of light crude oil for Asian customers in June, with a price reduction of up to 4.9 dollars per barrel . This is likely to accelerate the shift of Asian crude oil buyers to Iran.
Source: Mobei Public Account
