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Market Chatter: Sinopec Increases Russian Oil Purchases Amid Middle East Supply Disruption

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Chinese refining giant Sinopec has scaled up its Far East Russian oil imports to make up for the loss of the Middle Eastern supplies due to the Iran war, Reuters reported Thursday, citing traders and ship tracking data.

The refiner has secured 30-40 shipments of Russia's Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean crude for delivery from July to September. The purchases equate to 241,000-320,000 barrels per day over that period, or about 5%-6% of processing capacity of 5.2 million bpd.

The company bought about 7.4 million barrels of ESPO in July and secured at least 10 cargoes each for August and September, the report said.

The imports of cheaper Russian oil have helped maintain relatively stable throughput, which in turn has and allowed it to export surplus fuel for strong margins, despite China's restrictions on overseas fuel sales from March.

has reached out to Sinopec for comments.

(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)

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