Chinese crude market highly sought
In the race to be the largest Chinese crude supplier, Russian oil producers bumped the Saudis into second place in March.
Saudi Arabia had exported the most oil to China for the first two month of 2017, but last month, Russian exports grew nearly 1 per cent to 1.104 million b/d from the same month in 2016.
The boost came after China’s teapot refineries maintained high processing rates and restocked their inventories after 2017 import quotas were announced.
Overall, Chinese crude imports rose to a record high in March, overtaking the United States and beating expectations.
Saudi shipments to China were 1.072 million b/d in March, up almost 15 per cent from this time last year, according to the General Administration of Customs. In January and February, Chinese crude imports from Saudi Arabia were 1.165 million b/d.
Saudi Arabia has cut April prices for light crude in an effort to hang onto its slice of the Chinese market while Europe and the US increased their exports to Asia.
The US exported 45,057 b/d to China, an increase of 100 per cent as this time last year, China did not import any US crude.
Iranian crude supplies to China rose by 5.97 per cent to 626,200 b/d.
