- Oil steady as Chinese demand concerns counter supply tightness
- September ’23 WTI gained 14c this morning to trade around $81.13/Bbl
- Concerns grow over China's economic slowdown as key indicators, including retail sales, industrial output, and investment data, fall below expectations
- To bolster market sentiment, the People’s Bank of China increased short-term cash injections, provided strong guidance to yuan traders, and urged investment funds to limit equity selling
- However, OPEC+ cuts and additional voluntary reductions by Saudi Arabia and Russia through September are counteracting the weak demand
- Saudi Arabia's crude exports fell to their lowest since September 2021 in June, declining 1.8% from May to 6.8 MMBbl/d, according to JODI
- China's crude imports from Iran set to hit decade-high in August (Bloomberg)
- China is set to import up to 1.5 MMBbl/d of discounted Iranian oil in August, the most since 2013, according to Kpler
- Beijing's relaxation in inspecting bitumen mixture imports, which is sometimes used as a disguise for Iranian crude, accelerates the cargo clearance
- Competition with India for cheap Russian oil and Russia's export cut pledge is driving China to increase Iranian oil imports, especially among private refiners, while state-run refiners seek alternative sources
- Meanwhile, Iran's oil exports recently surpassed a five-year high of 1.4 MMBbl/d, as per Mehr news agency, with aims to reach 3.5 MMBbl/d by September, fueled by increased exports to China, Venezuela, and Syria