SINGAPORE – Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports to China are expected to reach a multi-year high in March after the kingdom cut its official selling price for Asia for four months, attracting more demand, trade officials said. State oil company Saudi Aramco plans to ship at least 53 million barrels, or about 1.71 million barrels per day (bpd), to China in March, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners revealed by trade sources.
Allocations were the highest since March 2023, up sharply from the previous two months when they remained below 50 million barrels, according to Reuters records.
PetroChina and Rongsheng Petrochemical were among the companies planning to lift more Saudi crude oil next month, a tally showed.
Meanwhile, Hengli Petrochemical will have zero shipments for the third consecutive month, an official said. Aramco and the refiner did not respond to requests for comment. March OSP for Arab Light crude oil was set at par with the Oman/Dubai average, down from a premium of $0.30 per barrel in February and the fourth monthly decline. OSP in March was the lowest since December 2020, according to Reuters data, but the 30 cent drop was smaller than expected.
(Reporting by Siyi Liu and Florence Tan in Singapore; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Lincoln Feast.)
