- The new chief of Libya’s National Oil Corporation has vowed to lift the blockade and increase crude production to 1.2 MMBbl/d in a week
- Libya's production has dropped by about 50% during the past six months due to political unrest and under-investment in infrastructure
- The NOC will also aim to expand output to 3 MMBbl/d within the following two years, according to the new chief, Bin Qadara
- The Russian government is reportedly drafting a plan to establish a national oil benchmark next year amid western sanctions that have caused the Urals grade to trade at a considerable discount to Brent (BBG)
- Key Russian ministries, domestic oil producers, and the central bank plan to launch oil trading on a national platform in October
- The move comes amid discussions among Western countries on capping the price of Russian crude
- China's oil refining improved last month as plants increased production in response to a tentative rebound in fuel demand following a series of anti-virus lockdowns
- The largest oil importer's refiners processed 13.42 MMBbl/d of crude last month, up 5% from May but down almost 10% from the same time last year
- However, more comprehensive data revealed that China's GDP increased by 0.4% in 2Q22, at the height of China's latest Covid outbreak, which was the second-weakest expansion since the Wuhan outbreak