1. South Korea 2023 Crude Imports: Saudi Dominant, UAE Biggest Gainer

    ...*South Korea, the world’s number four crude importer after China, the US and India, imported 2.73mn b/d for 2023, down 3% year on year and 300,000 b/d below the record 3.03mn b/d set in 2017.   *Saudi Arabia remained clear number one supplier with 955,000 b/d for a 35% market share de...

    Volume: 67
    Issue: 03
    Published at Fri, 19 Jan 2024
  2. Imminent Russian Embargo Set To Boost Middle East-Europe Oil Flows

    ...ve-year average. However, middle distillate inventories only reached 240.2mn barrels in November, 31.9mn barrels below the 2017-2021 average.” Preliminary Euroilstock data shows a modest 800,000-barrel December rise, which would have left middle distillate inventories still well below average le...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 27 Jan 2023
  3. South Korea Crude Imports: Saudi Up 23% To Record 995,000 B/D For 2023

    ...*South Korea, the world’s number four crude importer behind China, the US and India, saw volumes rise 7% to 2.81mn b/d for 2022, a three year high but 220,000 b/d shy of the record 3.03mn b/d set in 2017 (see table).   *With volumes from Russia – 2021’s number five supplier with 15...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 03
    Published at Fri, 20 Jan 2023
  4. Aramco Trading Launches American Subsidiary

    ...ade fuels and base oils,” Aramco says. The ‘Port Arthur’ refinery has been wholly owned by Aramco since it paid $2.2bn to Shell to acquire the major’s 50% stake in the facility in May 2017 (MEES, 10 March 2017). Under the deal signed in March 2017, the 50:50 Motiva JV was broken up, with Aramco ge...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 03
    Published at Fri, 20 Jan 2023
  5. Opec Solidifies Gains In 2022 As Saudi Sets Output Record

    ...pacity dropped from 3.15mn b/d in 2017/18 to 2.63mn b/d in 2020/21 according to the latest KOC figures (MEES, 22 October 2021). Kuwait also suffered from the full shut-in of the Partitioned Neutral Zone (PNZ), from where oil output is split with Saudi Arabia, between May 2015 and February 2020 (ME...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 13 Jan 2023
  6. Saudi Crude Exports Rise To Five-Year High In 2022

    ...10.57mn b/d for 2022 (see p7) drove an 800,000 b/d year-on-year increase in the kingdom’s crude oil exports. Figures from data intelligence firm Kpler show that crude exports (excluding Saudi Arabia’s 50% share from the Partitioned Neutral Zone) exceeded 7mn b/d last year for the first time since 2017...

    Volume: 66
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 13 Jan 2023
  7. South Korea Crude Imports: Mideast Volumes Slump To 25-Year Low For 2021

    ...ddle East suppliers. From a market share of over 80% to 2017, Gulf countries’ share fell to 69% for 2020 (MEES, 15 January 2021) and slumped again to a record low 60% for 2021. In absolute terms the 1.576mn b/d that Korea imported from the Gulf last year was the lowest since 1996 (see ch...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 14 Jan 2022
  8. Taiwan: 2021 Sees Mideast Imports Rebound From 2020’s Record Lows

    ...are a six-year high. Saudi Arabia supplied 282,500 b/d, up 38% year-on-year for the highest quarterly figure since Q1 2020, whilst number two Kuwait was up 66% at 202,500 b/d for the highest quarterly figure since 2017.   *In contrast, whilst the USA retained number three spot for Q4, volumes of 10...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 14 Jan 2022
  9. Kuwait’s Haitham Al-Ghais Elected Next Opec Secretary General

    ...rsed in all things Opec and is a veteran oil market analyst. He served as Kuwait’s Opec governor from 2017 until June 2021, since when he has been Deputy Managing Director for International Marketing at state energy firm KPC. All told, Mr Ghais has held a number of senior roles within KPC over the past th...

    Volume: 65
    Issue: 01
    Published at Fri, 07 Jan 2022
  10. Thailand Crude Imports: Mideast Share Falls To Record Low

    ...the UAE in 2017 when Saudi notched up a record 259,000 b/d, Saudi volumes have since slipped back: 2020’s 195,000 b/d was a six-year low.   *The USA was number three with volumes rising 12,000 b/d to a record 98,000 b/d for 2020.   *Gaining market share at the Gulf’s expense have be...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 29 Jan 2021
  11. IEA Slashes Demand Outlook Amid Tighter Global Restrictions

    ...oduction. Again, these downgrades have been frontloaded (see chart 3). DEMAND FOR OPEC CRUDE              The IEA sees the Call on Opec averaging 27.70mn b/d for 2021, up 4.8mn b/d on the 2020 level. As recently as 2017 it was 32mn b/d. And while the call doesn’t equate to actual demand for Opec cr...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 03
    Published at Fri, 22 Jan 2021
  12. Korea, Taiwan 2020 Crude Imports: Volumes Down, Mideast Down Further

    ...nual figure since 2011, with Q3’s 284,000 b/d the lowest quarterly figure since 2010. Number three Iraq saw volumes fall 34% to a six-year low 220,000 b/d, whilst number four the UAE saw a 15% fall to 206,000 b/d.   *As recently as 2017, Iran was Korea’s number three supplier (behind Kuwait). Bu...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 15 Jan 2021
  13. Saudi Surprises Market With 1mn B/D Production Cut

    ...nter months. But such leniency was not afforded to Gulf producers such as Iraq and the UAE in the summer when their domestic demand peaked. Russia’s compliance ever since the initial start of Opec+ cuts in January 2017 has been patchy at best, but it is typically afforded a free pass so long as co...

    Volume: 64
    Issue: 01
    Published at Fri, 08 Jan 2021
  14. Suez Canal Rides Us Shale Boom With 2019 Traffic & Revenue Records

    ...rminal of Ain Sukhna in 2019 (see p6). Southbound oil products shipments of 1.33mn b/d were up on 2018’s 1.28mn b/d and second only to 2017’s all-time high of 1.38mn b/d. Southbound products volume includes a record 94,000 b/d of LPG, with Q4 seeing a quarterly record of 126,000 b/d. But the st...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 24 Jan 2020
  15. Saudi Arabia Key Oil Data ('000 B/D): Saudi Crude And Products Exports Fell 1mn B/D Annual In 2019

    ...CHANGES EXPRESSED IN PERCENTAGE POINT TERMS WHERE ORIGINAL FIGURES ARE PERCENTAGES. *EXCLUDES FIELD LPG (650-700,000 B/D). **NAPHTHA REFINERY OUTPUT INCLUDED IN 'OTHER PRODUCTS TO DEC 2017 (479,000 B/D FOR 2017). ^PRESUMES ALL FUEL OIL CONSUMPTION IS BURNT IN POWER PLANTS. SOURCE: JO...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 24 Jan 2020
  16. Korea 2019 Crude Imports: Gulf Down As Usa Soars

    ...th 387,000 b/d as recently as 2017, have been zero every month since May when US sanctions ‘waivers’ expired (MEES, 28 June). *The Saudi slump in volumes comes despite Aramco last year taking 17% in Hyundai Oilbank, which operates the 650,000 b/d Daesan refinery south of Seoul (MEES, 20 De...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 03
    Published at Fri, 17 Jan 2020
  17. Global LNG: China Challenges Japan As Top Importer

    ...certainties suggests that Japan is likely to retain top spot for 2020 at least. *China’s 2019 gains are well down on 2018’s whopping 40%. Indeed, the key winter for the coal-to-gas heating switch was 2017-18. Year-on-year gains in LNG imports peaked at 59% in Q1 2018 and have fallen in every quarter si...

    Volume: 63
    Issue: 02
    Published at Fri, 10 Jan 2020
  18. Saudi: Pre-Deal Deja-Vu With Output, Export Records

    ...evious Opec output deal, when Saudi Arabia exported 8.258mn b/d (MEES, 20 January 2017). Going much further back, the only other month to top this was May 2003 (8.344mn b/d) when Saudi massively drew down stocks to boost exports to compensate for the loss of Iraqi volumes with the US invasion. *Of...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 25 Jan 2019
  19. Thailand Crude Imports: Abu Dhabi Cements Top Spot

    ...d crude imports growing 7.4% to top 1.1mn b/d for 2018, Thailand is at the top of the second tier. The UAE (effectively Abu Dhabi) cemented its position as top crude supplier to Thailand in 2018. Average volumes of 361,000 b/d were up 14.5% on 2017 though still down on 2013’s record 44...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 04
    Published at Fri, 25 Jan 2019
  20. IEA Points To Marathon Task Of Rebalancing Market

    ...growing rapidly, but Opec’s share of it is declining even more quickly. Opec’s own numbers show that the group is slated to supply just 30.8% of global demand in 2019 down sharply from 33.8% in 2017. Opec expects non-Opec production to grow by a massive 2.1mn b/d in 2019 – still less than 20...

    Volume: 62
    Issue: 03
    Published at Fri, 18 Jan 2019