With record breaking import volume in September, China has dethroned United States of America as the world’s top crude buyer.
China’s September crude oil imports jumped 18 percent from a year earlier to 33.06 million tonnes or 8.04 million barrels per day (bpd), customs data showed.
The buying surpassed the U.S. four-week average assessed by the U.S. Energy Information Administration to be at 7.98 million bpd as at the end of September.
It also marked the second time this year but the third month in the past twelve months that China’s imports have overtaken the United States, and reflected contracts signed in July when renewed selling pressure pushed crude below $42 a barrel. File Photo: Crude Oil Oil has since recovered to over $50 a barrel.
The shipments also arrived as Chinese refineries entered the final stretch of their annual maintenance season, which typically takes place in the third quarter. With U.S. plants’ repair work extending into this month, the world’s largest economy could retake pole position in October, analysts said.
China’s strategic reserve is preparing to start filling late this year newly-built storage tanks that can take some 19 million barrels of crude, or about three days worth of imports, traders said.
