New Delhi: A slowdown in China’s crude oil imports has provided relief to refiners across Asia, including in India, by making more barrels available in a market that is impacted by disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz amid the West Asia conflict, according to trade data intelligence firm Kpler.
Chinese crude imports in May are tracking at around 6.6 million barrels per day (mbd), the lowest since 2016, Kpler said. The decline has freed up Russian, African and American crude for other Asian buyers at a time when concerns around Gulf oil flows have tightened the market.“China’s sharp decline in crude imports has unintentionally eased feedstock tightness across Asia,” said Sumit Ritolia, manager, oil markets and modelling refinery, at Kpler.
The additional availability of Middle Eastern, Russian, West African and Atlantic Basin crude helped countries such as India, South Korea, Singapore, and Thailand secure more supplies than initially anticipated, added Ritolia.Arya Roy Bardhan, a junior fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), said China has historically cut oil imports and relied on strategic reserves during major global crises, including the Global Financial Crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic. “Acting as a global shock absorber, China lowers import bills for these nations,” Bardhan told ThePrint. “It relaxes the major binding constraint i.e. supply, by freeing up stocks coming from Africa and Middle East.”
