Saudi To Supply Full Crude Volumes To Asia in August, China Requests Less

Saudi Aramco has informed some clients in North Asia they will receive full nominated volumes of crude oil in August, while China once again requested for less supply, several sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

• This comes after Saudi Arabia announced to extend its 1mbpd output cut into August and consequently raised its OSP’s for most crude grades.
• Some Chinese refiners, however, both state-owned and mega-sized independent refineries, have asked for lower supply in August, according to four trading sources. The sources estimated the combined volume could be about 8mn barrels less than they took for July.
• China has lowered crude oil imports from Aramco in June and July in response to high Saudi oil prices.
• Chinese refiners are expected to buy more arbitrage cargoes from West Africa and Latin America instead.
• Onshore crude stocks in China stood at 980mn barrels at the end of June – only 20mn barrels below the all time high recorded in August 2020, Vortexa data showed.