Russia extended its lead over Saudi Arabia as top crude supplier to China to six straight months in August. Russia supplied 1.046mn b/d, whilst Saudi Arabia – near-undisputed number one as recently as 2015 – supplied just 861,000 b/d. On a three-month-moving-average basis Saudi supplies are at their lowest level since early 2014. Indeed for five of the last six months, including August (977,000 b/d), rival Opec producer Angola has bested Saudi for second place.
But not only are Chinese imports from Saudi Arabia down in August, those from Russia and overall import volumes are also down (see chart, MEES, 29 September). (CONTINUED - 842 WORDS)
