It can take more than six weeks for cargoes shipped from Russia’s western ports to arrive in China, while barrels sent from the Far East typically arrive the same month.
Offers for Russian Urals and ESPO crude were pegged at a discount of $13 and $8 a barrel, respectively, to Brent on a delivered basis, according to traders. That’s much cheaper than similar West African grades, which were priced at near parity or a premium to Brent., a grade that can be shipped quickly from Russia’s Far East, since late-2022.
Russian exports of straight-run fuel oil and high-sulphur fuel oil to China hit a record of about 142,000 barrels a day in January, according to Kpler. Fuel oil can be processed in place of crude in large distillation units, or used in secondary plants such as cokers to make diesel or gasoline. HSFO can also be blended into marine fuel or bitumen. It was at a $16 to $17 a barrel discount to Brent before taxes, the traders said.
China’s private refiners have been buying more straight-run fuel oil since late-2022 due to attractive prices, said Mia Geng, an analyst at industry consultant FGE. Private refiners sometimes opt to refine fuel oil over crude in an effort to skirt government-issued quotas meant to limit crude imports, but the recent surge in purchases was more likely due to processors being able to reap sizable profits from processing, she said.
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