Save for later Print Download Share LinkedIn Twitter The world’s biggest oil buyer landed 1.95 million b/d of Saudi crude in September, the highest level since last November. The volumes exclude at least 10 million bbl of Saudi crude floating offshore recently, temporarily stranded by a logistical bottleneck at the country’s largest refinery. Imports of Oman-origin crudes leapt by 241,000 b/d from August to 1.02 million bbl of in September, the highest level since last November. What is unusual is how China managed to import much more Oman-origin crudes than what Oman was actually able to produce. Oman produced just 789,000 b/d of crude in August and 812,000 b/d in September. China also landed 469,000 b/d of Malaysia-origin crude in September, the highest level since September 2019. Again, Malaysia only produced 420,000 b/d of crude in August and an even lower 389,000 b/d in September. Cargoes from Oman and Malaysia have been implicated in either being repackaged Iranian crudes or blends that include Iranian liquids.
