2024-02-03 18:03:25
Crude shipments to Asia, the world’s top oil-importing region, rose to 28.57 million barrels per day (bpd) in January 2024, up from 27.03 million bpd in December 2023, according to Clyde Russell, a Reuters columnist. from your data.
Originally, Chinese crude oil imports were estimated to be slightly lower than in December, but much higher than in January 2023. For its part, India likely imported a record amount of crude oil last month amid strong economic growth and rising fuel margins in Asia.
In January, 11.31 million barrels of oil per day arrived in China, the world’s largest crude oil importer, which is slightly less than the 11.48 million bpd imported in December, according to LSEG data. Last month’s imports to China were more than 1 million bpd higher than January 2023’s 10.24 million bpd. China has increased crude purchases to take advantage of lower prices since October, when oil prices began to slide from a September peak of $95 in 2023.
Given that there is a time lag of regarding two months between crude oil purchases and the arrival of crude oil in China, it can be inferred that Chinese refiners were already buying more oil before prices started to fall.
China has also allocated large amounts of crude oil import quotas to refiners, with some issuing quotas for the entire year. The early allocation of large import volumes will help refiners better plan their 2024 crude purchases, according to analysts.
India, the world’s third-largest crude importer and Asia’s second-largest importer, is estimated to have imported a record 5.33 million bpd of crude in January, up from 4.65 million bpd in December, according to ship tracker LSEG. Russia retained its top spot as India’s largest supplier of crude oil, slightly ahead of second-placed Iraq.
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