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Business Recorder
19 hours ago
- Business
- Business Recorder
China's June crude imports climb
SHANGHAI: China's crude oil imports rebounded in June and were up month-on-month and year-on-year, data showed on Monday, after refineries increased operations and imports rose from Saudi Arabia and Iran, according to consultancies. The world's largest crude oil buyer imported 49.89 million metric tons of crude oil, equivalent to 12.14 million barrels per day, data from the General Administration of Customs showed. The volume rose by 7.1% compared with 46.6 million tons in May and also rose 7.4% from June 2024. Maintenance affected a combined refining capacity of 107.7 million tons per year in June, down by 22.2 million tons from May, according to data from local consultancy Oilchem. 'We estimate that China's crude oil demand rose to 15.17 million bpd in June, up from 14.8 million bpd in May, as more refineries resumed operations following spring turnarounds,' Kpler analyst Muyu Xu said. Kpler also observed an increase in imports from Saudi Arabia and Iran in June. Kpler's data show that China's imports from Saudi Arabia rose by 845,000 bpd to 1.78 million bpd, as lower OSPs prompted Chinese refiners to nominate more May and June loading cargoes. Iranian crude imports also increased sharply, climbing by 445,000 bpd to 1.49 million bpd as independent refineries replenished inventories following the end of spring maintenance, the firm added.
Calgary Herald
23-06-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Oil spikes as Trump's attack on Iran ramps up risks to supplies
(Bloomberg) — Oil surged after the US struck Iran's three main nuclear sites and threatened further attacks, exacerbating a crisis in the Middle East and stoking concerns that energy supplies from the region could be disrupted. Article content Global benchmark Brent rallied as much as 5.7% to $81.40 a barrel, before paring some of that gain in heavy trading. Timespreads widened. US President Donald Trump said air attacks had 'obliterated' the trio of targets, and threatened more military action if Iran didn't make peace. In its initial reply, Tehran warned the strikes would trigger 'everlasting consequences.' Article content Article content Article content Brent's prompt spread — the difference between its two nearest contracts, and a closely followed metric — widened to as much as $1.99 a barrel in backwardation, from $1.53 on Friday. That's a bullish pattern indicating concern about tight prompt supplies. Article content Article content The US assault — which targeted sites at Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan — dramatically raises the stakes in the confrontation and increases the premium that traders are pricing into the global energy market. Still, the extent of the gains will depend on how Tehran opts to respond to the US moves. Article content The oil market has been gripped by the crisis since Israel attacked Iran more than a week ago, with futures pushing higher, options volumes spiking along with freight rates, and the futures curve shifting to reflect tensions about tighter near-term supplies. The Middle East accounts for about a third of global crude output, and a sustained increase in prices would boost inflationary pressures worldwide. Article content Article content 'The market will closely watch Iran's response — particularly whether it will move to disrupt Middle Eastern oil flows, directly or indirectly through its regional proxies,' said Muyu Xu, a senior crude analyst at Kpler Ltd. 'If Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz, even for one day, oil can temporarily hit $120 or even $150.' Article content There are multiple, overlapping risks for physical crude flows. The biggest centers on the Strait of Hormuz, should Tehran seek to retaliate by attempting to close the chokepoint. About a fifth of the world's crude output passes through the waterway at the entrance to the Persian Gulf. Article content Iran's parliament has called for the closure of the strait, according to state-run TV. Such a move, however, could not proceed without the explicit approval of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
New York Times
22-06-2025
- Business
- New York Times
U.S. Bombing of Iran Keeps Oil Markets on Edge
If the United States had acted a couple of decades ago to bomb Iran's nuclear weapons program, as it did on Saturday, oil prices would have soared. But even though prices might jump when trading resumes this week, the longer-term effect is far less clear. Oil traders must weigh whether the American attack will lead to wider fighting that harms exports from the Persian Gulf, said Muyu Xu, senior Asia crude oil analyst at Kpler, a global commodities and shipping data firm. Wider fighting could drive up prices if oil-loading facilities are damaged or tanker traffic is interrupted. There have been no major disruptions so far since the Israel-Iran conflict escalated this month, though Israel's air attacks did set fire to a refinery and refined products depot supplying Tehran. 'Until now, we haven't seen a single barrel removed from the market,' Ms. Xu said. Military action by Iran to interrupt the flow of oil would mostly harm China, which is closely aligned with Iran and buys nearly all of Iran's oil exports. Oil prices have risen about 10 percent since the recent eruption of hostilities, which began with a surprise attack on Iran by Israel on June 13. They fell on Friday after President Trump said he would decide within two weeks whether to enter the war against Iran. Ever since the Iranian Revolution in 1979, American policymakers worried that Iran might act against the United States by using mines or missiles to block tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is the entrance to the Persian Gulf, through which a sixth of the world's oil moves on tankers, and the northern side of the strait is Iran's coastline. China buys a third of all oil coming out of the gulf, according to Kpler's data, and helped broker a rapprochement two years ago between Iran and Saudi Arabia, another big exporter of oil from the Persian Gulf. By contrast, the United States buys less than 3 percent of the oil coming out of the Persian Gulf, notably from northern Saudi Arabia. The United States became an overall net exporter of oil in 2020 as fracking technologies enabled a big increase in domestic oil production. Iran's oil exports have declined steeply in recent years, although there was a partial rebound last year as China stepped up purchases from Iran following the rapprochement with Saudi Arabia. The United States and Europe have imposed broad prohibitions on the purchases of Iran's oil so as to pressure Tehran to abandon its nuclear weapons program. China has bought Iran's exports at a deep discount to world prices. Beijing leaders have long contended that the sanctions against Iran are not binding on China because the United Nations has not endorsed them. Even more unclear is what could happen to Iran's oil long-term oil exports. The sanctions that have curtailed much of Iran's exports were aimed at forcing it to stop developing nuclear weapons.
Business Recorder
09-06-2025
- Business
- Business Recorder
China's May crude imports at 4-mth low amid widespread refinery maintenance
China's crude oil imports fell in May to their lowest daily rate in four months, data showed on Monday, as planned maintenance work at both state-owned and independent refiners picked up. May imports in the world's largest crude buyer totalled 46.6 million metric tons, equivalent to 10.97 million barrels per day (bpd), according to data from the General Administration of Customs. The volume dropped by 3% compared with 48.06 million tons in April, and also fell 0.78% from May 2024. In the first five months of 2025, China imported 229.61 million metric tons, or 11.1 million bpd, up 0.3% from the same period a year earlier, the data showed. Maintenance affected a combined refining capacity of 129.9 million tons per year, or about 2.6 million bpd, up by 19.2 million tons from April, according to data by local consultancy Oilchem. 'May is typically the peak maintenance season in China, so refineries intentionally reduced their purchases of cargoes arriving in May,' Muyu Xu, Kpler's senior crude oil analyst, said. 'In addition, crude prices were relatively high earlier, so long-term contract volumes, especially from Saudi Arabia, were significantly cut back. On top of that, Iranian oil arrivals were very low in May, which made overall seaborne imports quite weak.' However, import are expected to rebound in June. China April crude oil imports up 'That's because the volume of long-term contract barrels from the Middle East arriving in June will increase notably, and arbitrage barrels from other regions, such as Brazilian crude, will also rise. However, Iranian crude imports may remain low, roughly on par with May levels,' Muyu Xu said. Monday's data also showed China's refined fuel exports fell 17.62% in May to 4.41 million tons from a year earlier. Natural gas imports - including piped gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) - fell 10.8% on the year to 10.11 million tons, the data showed. Imports of spot LNG remained weak as Asian prices hovered above $11/mmBtu, a level deemed too expensive for Chinese buyers given ample domestic supplies and weaker-than-expected industrial consumption of the fuel, traders have said.
The Star
30-05-2025
- Business
- The Star
Oil tankers going dark off Malaysia as Iran trade draws scrutiny
SOUTH-EAST ASIA (Bloomberg): Tankers involved in a vital hub of the Iran-to-China oil trade are disappearing from digital tracking systems, as the threat of US sanctions forces tactical changes to keep crude flowing. Over recent months, more vessels have started switching off their transponders as they near waters off eastern Malaysia, a hotspot for the transfer of Iranian oil from one to ship to another for transport to China. Previously, systems were rarely disabled, signaling when tankers anchored next to each other. While the tactic of going dark is not new, it's being used more regularly off Malaysia to avoid scrutiny. The White House says the Iranian oil trade generates revenue that supports Tehran-backed militia groups including Hamas, and has sought to hobble flows through sanctions on ships, ports and refiners. "Ship-to-ship transfers have been used to mask the origin of those cargoes,' said Muyu Xu, a senior crude oil analyst at Kpler in Singapore. "Now they're switching signals off for longer, so that it's now even harder trace those flows back to the source, which is Iran.' A recent example is the Vani, an unsanctioned very large crude carrier that was built in 2004 and has the capacity to carry 2 million barrels. The empty vessel signaled its position off eastern Malaysia on May 15, before going dark then and reappearing fully laden in the region five days later, according to ship-tracking compiled by Bloomberg. While Vani was missing from digital tracking systems, the tanker conducted a ship-to-ship transfer on May 18 with the Nora, a US-sanctioned vessel that had collected Iranian crude from the Kharg Island export terminal, according to Kpler and Vortexa. Vani is now signaling Qingdao in China as its destination, data from the two analytics companies show. Avani Lines Inc., based in the Marshall Islands and the registered owner of Vani, doesn't have a listed phone number or email address for contact on the Maritime Portal run by S&P Global Inc. China's independent refiners are the biggest buyers of Iranian crude, attracted to the discounted barrels because they help buffer typically razor thin margins. While official Chinese data shows the nation hasn't imported oil from the OPEC producer since 2022, third-party figures signal robust flows. China imported around 1.46 million barrels a day from Iran last month, down from a five-month high in March, according to Kpler. Flows started to slip late last year but have since recovered. Other methods being used to keep the Iran-to-China trade in business include the use of zombie ships - vessels that take on the identities of scrapped tankers to appear legitimate. In April, at least six ship-to-ship transfers off Malaysia were conducted with vessels that had disabled their transponders, including one with the Celine, a US-sanctioned ship, that had loaded Iranian oil from Kharg Island, according to Kpler. In the same month last year, only one tanker went dark. Ships can be identified conducting oil transfers by analyzing satellite imagery, but the process is labor intensive and picture quality depends on the weather. It requires matching tankers to photos of vessels with known identities, a method that needs more time and can be prone to human error. "It's getting more and more difficult to track those sanctioned flows,' Emma Li, senior market analyst at intelligence firm Vortexa Ltd., said during a client presentation in Singapore in early April attended by Bloomberg News. -- ©2025 Bloomberg L.P.
