Russian Oil Gets More Pricey as Pool of Asian Buyers Expands
- Offers for Urals, ESPO, fuel oil surge in past weeks: traders
- China’s state-run refiners ramp up interest in Russian crude
WATCH: “The oil demand and the expectations for demand just bounced around between what the Fed is going to do and what China’s doing,” S&P Global Vice Chairman Dan Yergin said.
Source: BloombergThe price of Russian crude and fuel is rising for buyers in Asia as a pool of bigger customers from China and India expands, putting pressure on smaller refiners that have eagerly consumed the cheap oil.
Offer levels for Russia’s Urals and ESPO crude, as well as fuel oil, surged over the past weeks, according to traders with knowledge of the matter. Increased interest from Chinese state-owned and large private refiners such as Sinopec, PetroChina Co. and Hengli Petrochemical Co., in addition to a jump in Indian demand, led cargoes to be snapped up at higher prices, they said.