Middle East crude oil exports to Europe rose around 150,000 b/d to a post-Covid peak of 1.86mn b/d in July amid the historic market displacement sparked by the Ukraine conflict. Vast quantities of Russian crude are being displaced from Europe, and Middle Eastern barrels are helping to fill the vacuum. In part this is due to major Asian buyers India and China opting to fill up on discounted Russian barrels and taking less from the Middle East as a result. Trade flows are being radically reshaped.
US officials have called for “further steps” from Opec+ in the wake of President Joe Biden’s July visit to Jeddah and increased Middle Eastern crude exports to Europe to help it end imports from Russia certainly qualify as that. (CONTINUED - 1021 WORDS)
