China Daily Oil Summary: Sinochem to Buy Venezuelan Crude

China's Sinochem Corp has agreed to buy a million barrels of heavy Venezuelan Merey crude at a discount of 11$/bbl to dated Brent crude on a DES basis for arrival in December according to Reuters sources.

• The rare purchase from the state-owned company comes after the easing of sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas exports for six months.
• In the domestic market, China will cut its gasoline price by 415 y/t and will cut its diesel price by 400 y/t.
• China’s jet fuel demand is expected to hit 0.86m b/d in Jan, the highest since 2020, according to BNEF.
• China’s refined oil exports were 3.64m mt, up 6.7% on the month but down 24.8% on the year, according to GACC data, cited by OilChem. This put exports at 133% of their original planned quantity.
• YUAN: The currency weakened to 7.1435 against the dollar from 7.1311 on Monday.
• EXCLUSIVE: China’s reference lending rate will likely remain unchanged in December as elevated wholesale money market rates increase bank financing costs, while strong government debt issuance drains liquidity from the interbank market, analysts and economists told MNI.