The Annual Offshore Oil & Gas Event
logo

The 25thBeijing International Offshore Oil & Gas Exhibition

ufi

BEIJING,CHINA

March 26-28,2025

LOCATION :Home> News > Industry News

Oil’s recovery under threat as tankers run in circles off China

Pubdate:2016-05-25 09:57 Source:mcc Click:
BEIJING (Bloomberg) -- In late February, the tanker Jag Lok loaded oil from Equatorial Guinea in western Africa and set sail for the Chinese port of Qingdao, the gateway to the world’s newest buyers of crude, a journey of more than 12,000 nautical miles.
 
After reaching its destination in early April, the ship churned in circles for 20 days before it got a chance to deliver its cargo. That’s because the port in Shandong province was struggling to handle a record number of vessels arriving to supply the privately held refineries called “teapots” that dot the region, ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg show.
 
The backup illustrates the challenges facing the independent refiners, which have emerged as a bright spot of rising demand amid a global glut. The processors are forecast by ICIS-China to purchase a combined 1 MMbopd from overseas this year, up from 620,000 bopd in 2015. While small individually, together they account for almost a third of China’s refining capacity. Any curb on imports would threaten oil’s rebound from a 12-year low, according to Nomura Holdings Inc. and Samsung Futures Inc.
 
“If teapots’ intake of crude slows down, the global oil demand and supply re-balancing might take longer,” said Gordon Kwan, head of Asia oil and gas research at Nomura in Hong Hong. “If demand from teapots is lower, then oil prices might rebound to just $55, instead of $60/bbl next year.”
 
From being dependent on state-owned energy giants for their feedstock needs as little as a year ago, teapots are now driving Chinese crude purchases after the government allowed them to buy overseas supplies directly. As of end-February, 27 of the companies had received or applied for annual import quotas totaling 89.5 million metric tons, or about 1.8 MMbopd, according to Zhang Liucheng, chairman of the China Petroleum Purchase Federation of Independent Refinery, a group of 16 processors.
 
Total purchases from overseas into the world’s second-largest oil user climbed to a near record 7.96 MMbopd in April, while shipments to Qingdao surged to unprecedented levels in April.
 
Still, with infrastructure not developing as fast as oil purchases, imports are at risk of slowing because of the ship traffic and lack of storage capacity, according to BMI Research. Concern about the creditworthiness of companies with no prior experience in international trade is also deterring some sellers. Slowing refining profits mean the plants may have to cut processing rates, weakening their appetite for cargoes from overseas, while the implementation of higher fuel quality standards could force some of them to shut.
 
Refiner Alliance
 
To ease purchasing from foreign suppliers, 16 of the refiners banded together in February to form an alliance. Its aim is to better negotiate bulk purchases as the newest buyers in the physical oil-trading market and improve their credibility. Zhang, the chairman, said it seeks term contracts of two to three years.
 
“When we are dealing with major producers, there is certainly some mistrust in terms of credit lines and unstable demand, which we are seeking to solve,” Zhang said. “Also we could get the cold shoulder because buying volumes can be small.”
 
The independents’ attractiveness to global producers was highlighted last month when one of the refiners purchased a spot cargo from Saudi Arabia, which broke from its usual policy of selling only under long-term contracts. Yet, they are discovering that it’s not easy to break into the oil market even amid a glut.
 
“Teapot buying could slow due to logistical constraints which are already stretched to their limits,” said Nevyn Nah, a Singapore-based analyst at consultant firm Energy Aspects Ltd.
 
Fuel Standards
 
Apart from the traffic at Qingdao, China’s fight against pollution poses another risk to purchases by teapots. Part of President Xi Jinping’s efforts to tackle the smog that’s shortening lives and has prompted social unrest is a drive to adopt higher fuel-quality standards from January 2017. To comply, the nation’s refineries will need to upgrade with new equipment and technology, which may be beyond the means of some private processors, according to BMI Research, a unit of Fitch Group.
 
A drop in refining margins amid surging fuel stockpiles and a jump in crude prices this year is another potential dampener. The profit from turning Middle East benchmark Dubai crude into oil products in Asia is at $4.92/bbl as of the end of last week, about 34% lower from late March, data compiled by Bloomberg show.
 
Brent crude, the benchmark for more than half the world’s oil, traded at $48.17/bbl by 11:26 a.m. in London. Prices have surged more than 70% from a 12-year low they hit in January.
 
Margin Drop
 
“Weakening margins are likely to have a stronger impact on independent refineries in China and this will lead to lower crude imports,” said Hong Sung Ki, a senior analyst at Samsung Futures Inc. in Seoul. “That will result in a downward revision for China demand and this will inevitably have a negative impact on oil prices.”
 
Meanwhile, ships continue to be held up at Qingdao. At least 16 oil tankers with capacity to carry 21.2 MMbbl have stayed near the port for more than 10 days over May 1-23. Half of them were there for more than a month, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
主站蜘蛛池模板: 中文字幕第一页在线| 国产壮汉男同志69可播放| 国产精品无码一区二区三级| 国产一级二级在线| 久久国产亚洲高清观看| 韩国v欧美v亚洲v日本v| 日韩伦理片电影在线免费观看| 国产成人精品免高潮在线观看| 亚洲精品午夜视频| 97色婷婷成人综合在线观看| 欧美黑人肉体狂欢大派对| 国产视频中文字幕| 亚洲国产精品无码专区在线观看| 4408私人影院| 浮生陌笔趣阁免费阅读| 忘忧草社区中文字幕| 免费观看性欧美大片无片| 一个人hd高清在线观看| 男爵夫人的调教| 国产高清美女**毛片| 亚洲午夜一区二区电影院| 99精品众筹模特私拍在线| 日本精品少妇一区二区三区| 国产∨亚洲v天堂无码久久久| 两个男gay的做污污的过程| 类似爱情1未删减版视频| 国自产拍亚洲免费视频| 亚洲加勒比在线| 青青青青久久久久国产| 成人最新午夜免费视频| 伊人色综合九久久天天蜜桃| 94久久国产乱子伦精品免费| 欧洲美熟女乱又伦免费视频| 国产免费av片在线无码免费看 | 99久久精品费精品国产一区二区| 残虐极限扩宫俱乐部| 国产激情小视频| 中文视频在线观看| 特黄AAAAAAAAA毛片免费视频| 国产精品天天在线午夜更新| 久久成人国产精品|