*China’s official crude imports fell to 9.86mn b/d for April, the lowest figure this year and the second lowest (after December 2020) since the ‘peak Covid’ month of March 2020. Average volumes of 10.99mn b/d for the first four months of 2021 are up 9.4% on last year’s Covid-hit initial four-month period.
*A key story so far this year has been the extent to which official stats fail give the full picture as far as China’s crude imports are concerned (MEES, 23 April). Sizable volumes of crude from Iran and Venezuela have failed to appear in the official stats – at least in terms of being labeled as such. April officially saw zero Iranian imports for the fourth straight month whilst China last officially imported Venezuelan crude back in September 2019. (CONTINUED - 955 WORDS)
