China estimated to boost Saudi crude oil imports to 1.17m bpd in 2013

09 Dec 2012

(MENAFN) China is expected to up its crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia by 11 percent in 2013, as refiners lift output in anticipation of an economic recovery and an increase in fuel demand, Reuters reported, citing industry officials.

Based on estimates by industry sources with direct knowledge of the supply situation, China may buy about 1.17 million barrels per day (bpd) of Saudi crude next year. This is 120,000 bpd more than this year’s volume.

China is Saudi Arabia’s third largest customer after the US and Japan. This year to October, China’s crude imports from Saudi oil contracted to 8.6 percent to 1.06 million bpd from 12.6 percent in 2011.

China, which imports around 5.3 million bpd, sees Saudi Arabia, the world’s top oil exporter, as a strategic partner capable of providing stable supplies, and the state energy companies of both nations are in a USD10 billion joint venture to build a 400,000-bpd refinery on Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea coast.

According to the sources, China’s No.1 refiner Sinopec Corp would buy more than 80 percent of the total Saudi supplies to China, while the nation’s No.2 refiner PetroChina and state-run Sinochem Corp will use up the remaining.

Sinopec is working on new refining facilities at two subsidiary plants, a 200,000-bpd unit started in late November at Maoming in south China and a 160,000-bpd unit at Jinling refinery in east China, and is expected to boost Saudi imports by up to 80,000 bpd.

PetroChina is estimated to increase imports of Saudi crude by 40,000 bpd to around 160,000 bpd in 2013, up a third from 2012, trading executives have said.