*China’s official crude imports were below 10mn b/d for a second straight month in May, the first time this has been the case since the ‘peak Covid’ months of February-April 2020. The latest dip follows near record imports of 11.77mn b/d and 11.75mn b/d for February and March respectively. Average 5M 2021 volumes of 10.73mn b/d are up a relatively modest 4.1% year on year.
*Saudi Arabia was top supplier ahead of Russia for the seventh straight month in May with 1.69mn b/d, up 120,000 b/d on April, whilst Russia was 400,000 b/d back on 1.29mn b/d (see chart 1). (CONTINUED - 665 WORDS)
