Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports to China are set to touch a multi-year high in March after the kingdom cut its official selling prices to Asia for a fourth month and attracted more demand, several trade sources said.
State oil company Saudi Aramco 2222.SE will ship at least 53 million barrels to China in March, or about 1.71 million barrels per day (bpd), a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners from trade sources showed.
The allocation volume jumped from the previous two months, when it remained below 50 million barrels, and is the highest since March 2023, according to Reuters’ records.
Companies that planned to increase Saudi crude liftings next month included PetroChina 601857.SS and Rongsheng Petrochemical 002493.SZ, the tally showed.
Meanwhile, Hengli Petrochemical 600346.SS will lift zero volume for a third consecutive month, the sources said.
Aramco and the refining companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The March OSP for Arab Light crude was set at parity with the Oman/Dubai average, down from a premium of $0.30 a barrel in February and a fourth month cut. The March OSP is the lowest since December 2020, Reuters’ data showed, although the 30-cent price cut was smaller than expected.
