China is the world’s largest net importer of crude oil, and in recent years its crude oil imports have increasingly come from countries outside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC). While OPEC members still made up most (57 percent) of China’s 7.6 million barrels per day (bpd) of crude oil imports in 2016, crude oil from non-OPEC countries made up 65 percent of the growth in China’s imports between 2012 and 2016. Leading non-OPEC suppliers to China include Russia with 14 percent of total imports, Oman (9 percent), and Brazil (5 percent), the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in its “Today in Energy” report on April 14. Growth in China’s 2016 crude imports reflect both lower domestic output and continued demand growth, the EIA said.
• China’s record oil imports in March helped it top the US as the world’s biggest buyer during the first quarter as stockpiling and aggressive buying by refiners coincided with slumping domestic production. China imported 9.21 million bpd, up 11 percent from February, according to data from the General Administration of Customs (GAC) released on April 13. Imports during the first quarter rose 15 percent to almost 105 million tons or about 8.5 million bpd. The US imported almost 8.15 million bpd on average during the same period, EIA weekly data showed. Buying last month was likely boosted by stockpiling and purchases from the country’s independent oil refiners, which raised their processing of imported crude to a record last month, according to analysts from ICIS China.
North America
l US crude production will likely rise in the months ahead as explorers added rigs for a 13th week, capping the longest stretch of gains since 2011. Rigs targeting crude rose by 11 to 683 this week, the highest level since April 2015, according to Baker Hughes data released Thursday. The number of wells drilled has more than doubled since tumbling to 316 in May.
• Mexico crude exports in February were the highest since November on higher demand from India, South Korea, Japan and China, according to the country’s customs data released on April 13.
• US crude production at the end of 2017 will stand at 9.5 million bpd, 690,000 bpd higher than at the end of last year, the IEA said in its monthly report. The agency revised 2017 US crude production higher by 55,000 bpd.

Source: Arab News