Aramco crude supply to China to dip in July

Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China is set to dip slightly in July, trade sources said on Tuesday.

However, supply will remain strong for a third straight month as the kingdom regains its market share supplying the world’s top crude importer.

State oil company Saudi Aramco will ship about 47 million barrels to China in July, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed, one million barrels less than June’s allotted volume.

State refiners Sinopec, PetroChina and Aramco’s joint venture Fujian refinery will be receiving more crude in July. The allocation for independent refiners Rongsheng Petrochemical, Hengli Petrochemical and Shenghong Petrochemical will dip, the sources said.

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Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The robust Saudi supply comes after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as Opec+, agreed to increase output in July by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd) for a third consecutive month.

Since April, the Opec+ eight have now made or announced increases totalling 1.37 million bpd, or 62 percent of the 2.2 million bpd they aim to add back to the market.