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2018-11-22 11:15:00

U.S. - CHINA OIL

U.S. - CHINA OIL

PLATTSRecent activity in the US Gulf Coast shipping market signals that Chinese buyers have returned to buying US crudes oil after halting all imports of US grades in August and September.

As trade tensions between the two countries heated up, there were no US crude oil exports to China in August and September, according to US Customs data and S&P Global Platts Analytics. That's a stark contrast to previous months when China bought 15 million barrels and 13 million barrels of US crude in June and July, respectively.

Official export data for October is not yet available.

This week Mercuria was heard to have fixed the VLCC New Pioneer for a December journey from the US Gulf Coast to China for the lump sum of $9 million. Additionally, Day Harvest, which is the chartering arm of China's Sinochem, booked the VLCC Manifa for a trip to Ningbo, China. Late last week, Unipec booked VLCC Arafura for a Gulf Coast to China voyage. All of the cargoes were set to load in late December and it's too soon to know if the fixtures will actually load. However, sources in the market said that this could be a signal that China is returning to buy US crude.

Washington-based analysts speculated Wednesday that China was likely buying more US crude in order to diversify its supply as US sanctions on Iranian crude take hold.

China was one of eight nations to receive a 180-day exemption from US sanctions on Iranian crude, which were reimposed November 5.

About 599,000 b/d of Iranian crude was shipped to China in October and 646,000 b/d in November, according to S&P Global Platts' trade tracker cFlow. The State Department has declined to discuss the details of these exemptions but Reuters has reported that China will be permitted to import 360,000 b/d of Iranian oil during the exemption period, not including oil from Iranian projects in which China has equity.

The US and China are in the middle of a brewing trade war, with China threatening to impose tariffs on US crude exports, but talks have currently stalled, sources said. China removed crude oil from its tariff list in August.

President Donald Trump is expected to meet his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Buenos Aires on December 1 on the sidelines of the G20 meeting.

A US State Department spokesman did not have an immediate comment.

 

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Earlier:

 N.America
2018, November, 16, 09:30:00

SAUDIS ARE ANGRY

REUTERS - “The Saudis are very angry at Trump. They don’t trust him any more and feel very strongly about a cut. They had no heads-up about the waivers,” said one senior source briefed on Saudi energy policies.

 

 N.America
2018, November, 16, 09:20:00

U.S. FINANCIAL RISKS

U.S. OFR - The U.S. Office of Financial Research (OFR) released its 2018 Annual Report to Congress, stating that risks to U.S. financial stability remain in the medium range, reflecting a mix of high, moderate, and low risks to the financial system.

 

 N.America
2018, November, 9, 15:25:00

IRAN SANCTIONS ANEW

PLATTS - US sanctions are expected to bring Iranian crude exports down to 1.1 million b/d in November, and 850,000 b/d in the fourth quarter of 2019, down from an average of 2.686 million b/d in April and May,

 

 N.America
2018, September, 28, 10:00:00

U.S. - CHINA LNG

PLATTS - A 10% tariff on US liquefied natural gas is not steep enough to make shipping cargoes to China unprofitable, but it adds an obstacle for the second generation of American terminals, industry observers said.

 

 N.America
2018, September, 19, 13:30:00

U.S. - CHINA SANCTIONS: $60 BLN

REUTERS - Beijing on Tuesday said it would tax U.S. products worth $60 billion effective Sept. 24 in retaliation for tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump in an escalating trade war.

 

 N.America
2018, August, 22, 13:00:00

U.S. - CHINA: COUNTERPRODUCTIVE

U.S. API - API emphasized the counterproductive effects of Section 301 tariffs on America’s natural gas and oil sector, underscoring the damaging impact that Chinese retaliatory tariffs would have on U.S. LNG exports, and urged the Administration not to impose additional tariffs on Chinese products at today’s hearing before the U.S. Trade Representative on Section 301.

 

 N.America
2018, August, 15, 11:00:00

U.S. OIL FOR CHINA

REUTERS - Chinese oil importers are shying away from buying U.S. crude as they fear Beijing’s decision to exclude the commodity from its tariff list in a trade dispute between the world’s biggest economies may only be temporary.

 

 

Tags: USA, CHINA, OIL