China’s Big Refineries Scramble for Discounted Russian Oil

Major Chinese refineries are scrambling for discounted Russian crude, supporting prices
and forcing smaller independents to look for cheap alternatives such as Iranian oil,
Reuters reports, citing trade sources and shipping data.

According to Reuters, there is growing demand for Russian oil, with state refiners – PetroChina and Sinopec resuming imports in February.

Citing data from Refinitiv, Kpler and Vortexa, Reuters reports that large private oil refiners
Hengli Petrochemical and Jiangsu Eastern Shenghong Co began receiving discounted
Russian crude from March.

 Four cargoes of about 740,000 barrels each of low-sulphur ESPO
crude were discharged at Hengli’s Dalian berth in March while another two arrived in
April, citing Kpler data.

Also, Shenghong imported a Urals crude cargo of about 720,000 barrels in March and 1
million barrels in April, Kpler showed.

China’s overall Russian crude imports, including pipeline and ships, rose to a record
9.61 million tonnes, or 2.26 million barrels per day (bpd) in March, customs data