China’s crude oil imports are likely to average 7.8 million barrels a day in July, up from the 6.2 million barrels daily its refiners took in during June — the country’s lowest import rate in over ten years. The rebound lands as oil retreats from last week’s highs on reports that the United States and Iran have paused their mutual attacks.
Chinese refiners are likely to have raised their crude buying this month to a daily average of 7.8 million barrels, according to calculations by Kpler cited by Bloomberg. The figure could add fuel to oil’s rally.
Refiners have been buying more Russian crude and have seen more tankers arrive from the Middle East, the report noted.
June marked a decade low for Chinese buying
The July average would be a solid increase from the 6.2 million barrels daily that Chinese refiners imported in June. That was the lowest import rate for China in over ten years, Bloomberg noted, pointing to November 2015 as the last time the country imported crude at that rate.
Prices retreat after the U.S. and Iran halt attacks
Oil prices this week retreated from last week’s highs on reports that the United States and Iran had paused their mutual attacks, sparking hopes for peace yet again.
Behind that pause sit 13 nights of straight U.S. bombing of Iran, which has so far renewed the freezing of traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and expanded hostilities to the Red Sea. There, the Iran-linked Houthis announced a maritime blockade on Saudi Arabia and then struck two tankers, which sent other tankers U-turning and Brent crude to over $100 per barrel.
Tehran doubts the pause will hold
The U.S. stopped bombing Iran on Friday, and no attacks were recorded over the weekend, Reuters reported. In response, Iran suspended its own attacks on infrastructure in Gulf states hosting U.S. military bases.
Reuters quoted an unnamed senior Iranian official saying that as long as the U.S. did not renew its attacks, neither would Iran. Yet hope for peace in Tehran appears to be in short supply. That official told Reuters that scepticism outweighs optimism about the pause: “There is more scepticism than optimism about the halt in attacks.”
Source: Oilprice.com
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