International crude oil fluctuates sharply in 2022. Supplies from Russia get interrupted due to sanctions, and demand is suppressed by high oil price and risk of economic downturn. China is a large consumer while its crude oil imports dropped on year in Jan-Jul 2022, reflecting some changes in crude oil market.
In the first seven months of 2022, China crude oil imports fell by 11.96 million tons year-on-year. The imports declined especially in Jun and Jul.
The full-year crude oil imports recorded an increase of 36.33 million tons on year in 2020, but decreased notably in 2021, especially in the latter half year.
China, as a large refining base worldwide, sees decline in crude oil imports, which testifies to shrinking demand globally.
In terms of origins, imports from UAE, Malaysia, Russia, Kuwait, etc. increased, while that from Brazil, US, Angola, UK, Oman, Saudi Arabia, etc. declined on year in the first seven months of 2022.
After western countries implementing sanctions, Russia increased crude oil supplies to Asia. Therefore, China’s imports from Russia recorded growth for 4 straight months since Apr. The increment in imports from UAE was the most obvious, and the market believes there’s great potential in the spare capacity of UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Imports from Brazil and US recorded the biggest decline, and supplies from those countries were more moved to Europe and America as target markets.
Under a new structure of global energy, structural problem could be an important issue affecting the market. As EIA data showing, for example, US gasoline consumption keeps slow, while it continues export large volume of crude oil and the strategic petroleum reserve hits record low. For crude oil, it is not just a matter of global supply and demand balance.
Post time: Sep-14-2022