[ad_1]
Source: BEIJING / SINGAPORE – Reuters
Accounts carried out by Reuters based on customs data showed on Sunday that China’s oil imports from Saudi Arabia, its largest supplier, fell by 1.6% in March from the previous year, while purchases from Russia, which ranked second among suppliers, increased 31%.
And China’s crude oil imports increased 4.5% yoy to 9.68 million barrels per day as refineries store cheap shipments, despite lower domestic demand for fuel and lower refining rates due to consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to data from the General Administration of Customs, shipments from Saudi Arabia amounted to 7.21 million tons, equivalent to 1.7 million barrels per day, compared to 1.73 million barrels per day the previous year.
Average daily imports in the first two months of this year are 1.79 million barrels.
Shipments from Russia reached 7.02 million tons last month, or 1.66 million barrels per day, down from 1.71 million barrels per day in the first two months of the year.
While most state-owned refineries maintained significant production cuts in March to reduce their fuel stocks, independent companies increased operating rates as refining margins were driven by falling oil prices. .
Saudi Arabia, other OPEC members and producers outside the organization have reached a new agreement to cut production to raise prices from their record low levels, but many say a deeper cut will be necessary.
Imports from the United States continued near zero in March.
Imports fell last year as a result of the U.S.-China trade war, but it is expected to improve in 2020 after China began granting duty-free exemptions to U.S. products, including crude oil, since early March. .
No shipments were received from Venezuela for the fifth consecutive month, with the National Petroleum Corporation of China, the largest buyer of crude from Caracas, reluctant to Venezuelan crude to avoid violating US sanctions.
The data also showed that Chinese imports from Iran fell 88.9% from a year ago to 255,779 tonnes.
[ad_2]
