SINGAPORE: Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports to China are set to surge in October after a deep cut in prices, several trade sources said on Thursday.
State oil company Saudi Aramco will ship about 51 million barrels to China in October, about 1.65 million barrels per day (bpd), a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed.
The October plan compares with 1.43 million bpd allocated in September and matches the volume in August which was the highest since April 2023.
Companies which planned to increase Saudi crude liftings next month were Asia’s top refiner Sinopec Hengli Petrochemical and Shenghong Petrochemical, the sources said.
Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment about its October allocation to China.
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Earlier Reuters reported that Aramco spoke to Asian buyers on the sidelines of this week’s APPEC conference in Singapore, nudging them to lift more crude in October as it seeks to reclaim market share.
The state producer set the October price for its flagship Arab Light crude to Asia at $2.20 a barrel above the Oman/Dubai average, down $1 per barrel from a five-month high in September.
The price cut followed a weekend decision by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, known as OPEC+, to raise production by 137,000 barrels per day in October.
The group, which is led by Saudi Aramco and pumps about half of the world’s oil, has already boosted production targets by 2.5 million bpd since April, equivalent to about 2.4% of global demand.
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