China is buying American oil again

Reuters:

China has increased U.S. crude purchases with some buyers snapping up cargoes at the widest discounts ever as sellers seek to offload excess supplies in Asia, six trade sources said on Wednesday.

China started processing in March applications from its companies to waive import tariffs on U.S. energy goods as part of the Sino-U.S. Phase 1 trade deal and they have since bought liquefied natural gas (LNG) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the United States.

The world’s largest crude importer is boosting U.S. energy imports at a time when the world is swamped with excess supply after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and Russia failed to extend production cuts and as measures to curb the spread of the coronavirus undermined demand.

Cheap U.S. energy supplies will help China lower its import costs, but the deep discounts will add further pressure on U.S. producers to shut in production after U.S. crude futures CLc1 slumped to their lowest since 2002.

U.S. Mars Sour crude has been sold to Chinese buyers at discounts between $7 and $9 a barrel to September ICE Brent futures for July arrival while the discounts for West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) in Midland were between $6 and $7 a barrel, the sources told Reuters.
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“Only the Chinese are buying and the rest of the world are selling,” a Singapore-based trader said, leading to some “very aggressive offers” for U.S. crude into that market even though the oil’s benchmark is already at the lowest in 18 years.
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U.S. crude is mired in deep discount as producers, forced to clear pipelines stuck with unsold oil, are now flooding the U.S. gulf coast with cheap crude.

Strong demand to ship out excess U.S. crude to China has also caused freight rates to surge, with costs jumping to $8-$10 per barrel, two of the sources said.
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With the Saudis storing their excess production on ships, that is probably driving up the cost of shipping.  It is interesting that the Chinese are choosing US crude over OPEC or Russian sources.