Iran’s oil exports to China hit a record

According to Energy Press, thanks to customers like China, oil exchanges have increased, and this trend has caused Iran to record the increase in OPEC production last year. Also, the evidence shows that Pakistan is determined to implement the joint gas transmission pipeline project between the two countries, ignoring the threats. According to Bloomberg, the bloc of countries sanctioned by the US has the potential to establish bilateral and multilateral trade with each other in order to protect them from Washington’s economic war. These things mean that the next president of Iran will not have a difficult task at least in exporting crude oil to maintain the current conditions.
The volume of Iran’s crude oil exports to China in May reached the highest figure in the last seven months, following the improvement of refinery conditions and profit margins, especially in independent Chinese refineries. According to Bloomberg, information from Kepler shows that China imported 1.540 thousand barrels of crude oil daily from Iran during the last month alone, which was the highest figure since October.
China’s independent refineries, which are also called tea pots; In 2024, they are faced with weak profit margins for the production of all types of fuel. This caused the level of their activities to decrease. This category of refineries accounts for a quarter of China’s total crude oil refining capacity, and at the same time, they are also among the pioneers in diesel production. It is worth considering that the profit of processing crude oil into gasoline and diesel has increased since the beginning of April until it has reached its highest seasonal figure in the past 10 years. In this regard, Reuters reported, the price of Arab light oil for delivery to Asian customers for delivery in July decreased by 50 cents per barrel compared to June and is sold at 2 dollars and 40 cents per barrel above the Oman-Dubai index.

According to the report, the selling price of other Saudi Arabian oil grades to Asian applicants has dropped between 40 and 60 cents per barrel. At the same time, the Saudi oil giant Aramco has increased the price of this country’s crude oil sales to European countries. For example, the official selling price of Arab light oil to Northern Europe in July will be 3 dollars and 10 cents higher than the Brent oil index. It also seems that the sale price of Arab light oil to the United States has stabilized at the level of 4 dollars and 75 cents higher than the Argos sour crude oil index. The sale price of other grades of Saudi Arabian oil to America has not changed much.

Saudi focus on the market
The recent drop in the price of crude oil shows the fact that the Saudi government is focusing on its market share instead of the price, despite the global drop in oil prices following the OPEC Plus meeting. On the other hand, OPEC Plus surprised the market by revealing the news that the voluntary production reduction strategy of some member countries will be gradually removed; Meanwhile, according to official sources, Saudi Arabia plans to continue reducing its production in 2025. Over the past few months, Aramco has also increased the official price of selling its crude oil to Asian destinations. This, in turn, indicates health on the demand side despite higher prices. The fact is that the publication of the news of the reduction in the price of the Saudi government’s export oil for Asian destinations, which constitute a large volume of oil customers of this country, can potentially have an adverse effect on the world’s oil indices. Asian countries account for more than 80% of Saudi Arabia’s total oil exports.

What about OPEC?

Reuters wrote in a separate report; The total oil production of OPEC member countries increased in May. It seems that the growth of crude oil exports of two countries, Nigeria and Iraq, has made the voluntary production reduction strategy of some other members in the OPEC+ alliance largely ineffective. Oil tanker tracking data shows that OPEC members produced a total of 26,630,000 barrels per day in May, which is 145,000 barrels per day higher than the previous month.