Russia beats Saudi Arabia to become China's largest crude oil supplier for three consecutive months

According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on the 21st, in May this year, Russia defeated Saudi Arabia for the third consecutive month and became China's largest crude oil supplier
.
In the context of the sharp drop in crude oil prices, the market may be as Rosneft CEO Sechin said: It is not OPEC's era anymore.
Russia, the United States and Saudi Arabia are the three major players in the market
.
In terms of striving for the Chinese market, a major crude oil importer, Russia has clearly come to the front of Saudi Arabia
.
According to data released by the General Administration of Customs of China on the 21st, in May this year, Russia defeated Saudi Arabia for the third consecutive month and became China's largest crude oil supplier
.
According to customs data, China's crude oil imports from Russia in May reached 5.
245 million tons, a record high of approximately 1.
24 million barrels per day, an increase of 33.
7% from the same period last year, and also higher than April’s 1.
17 million barrels per day
.
Cumulative imports in the first five months, China's crude oil imports from Russia increased by 41.
8% year-on-year to 1.
06 million barrels per day, while crude oil imports from Saudi Arabia were 1.
05 million barrels per day
.
Citibank analysts believe that China's oil imports from Russia have surpassed Saudi Arabia for three consecutive months.
The main reason is that the import cycle of crude oil from Russia is shorter.
Therefore, Chinese refiners have a "soft liking" for Russian crude oil
.
A senior trader who frequently deals with geo-refining companies revealed: “Russian oil is still the first choice for domestic refining companies
.
Geo-refining companies usually make short-term production plans, so they need immediate cargo
.
” For these refineries, Russia's low-sulfur ESP0 crude oil shipments are small and have geographical advantages, while Saudi and Iraq's high-sulfur crude oils usually ship large quantities, and these two countries are used to signing long-term contracts with customers
.
The increase in demand from local refineries is due to the fact that the Chinese government is accelerating the issuance of crude oil import permits and quotas for independent refineries
.
As of 2015, a total of 13 domestic refineries have the right to use imported crude oil
.
June 14 this year, the Commerce Department said that the right to declare the material Shandong sea Petrochemical Corporation Limited have been reviewed
.
Upon review, the company complies with the relevant regulations on the qualifications for non-state trading of imported crude oil
.
In May, two other local refineries also received crude oil import quotas
.
In addition, the demand for crude oil as a national strategic reserve material is also increasing
.
According to data from Citibank, more than 2.
2 billion barrels of crude oil have been imported through Qingdao in April and late May
.
Analysts said that China's crude oil imports may have increased by 39% from the same period last May to 32.
24 million tons, but this has slowed down from April's 32.
58 million tons of imports
.