Swordsmyth
12-05-2018, 04:55 PM
Unipec, the trading arm of China and Asia’s biggest refiner Sinopec, plans to resume imports of U.S. crude oil during the 90-day trade truce window, as the tentative halt to additional tariffs and lower oil prices are making American oil attractive again, Reuters reported (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trade-china-oil-exclusive/exclusive-chinas-unipec-to-buy-u-s-crude-oil-after-xi-trump-trade-truce-idUSKBN1O40CX?utm_source=applenews) on Wednesday, quoting three sources in the know.
Although crude oil is not on China’s tariff list, Chinese buyers have been staying away from U.S. crude oil purchases since the summer, when the trade war escalated.
According to EIA data (https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_expc_a_EPC0_EEX_mbblpd_m.htm), the United States didn’t export any crude oil to China in August and in September, compared to 384,000 bpd in July and a record-high 510,000 bpd in June.
After the United States and China called a truce on the trade war this weekend and pledged to immediately begin trade negotiations in view of possible deal within 90 days, Chinese refiners are now willing to buy U.S. crude oil by March 1, when the negotiating period expires.
Chinese buyers will rush to buy U.S. oil to have it docked in China before March 1, a senior executive at Sinopec told Reuters, noting that “Oil prices are low, so it makes economic sense to store some crude as commercial inventories.”
More at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/China-Set-To-Resume-Buying-US-Crude-Oil-After-Trade-War-Truce.html
Although crude oil is not on China’s tariff list, Chinese buyers have been staying away from U.S. crude oil purchases since the summer, when the trade war escalated.
According to EIA data (https://www.eia.gov/dnav/pet/pet_move_expc_a_EPC0_EEX_mbblpd_m.htm), the United States didn’t export any crude oil to China in August and in September, compared to 384,000 bpd in July and a record-high 510,000 bpd in June.
After the United States and China called a truce on the trade war this weekend and pledged to immediately begin trade negotiations in view of possible deal within 90 days, Chinese refiners are now willing to buy U.S. crude oil by March 1, when the negotiating period expires.
Chinese buyers will rush to buy U.S. oil to have it docked in China before March 1, a senior executive at Sinopec told Reuters, noting that “Oil prices are low, so it makes economic sense to store some crude as commercial inventories.”
More at: https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/China-Set-To-Resume-Buying-US-Crude-Oil-After-Trade-War-Truce.html