Chen Aizhu and Jing Xu
China's commerce ministry has met independent oil refiners to discuss their deals with Russia, five sources with knowledge of the matter said, imports which have saved Chinese buyers billions of dollars.
China and India are buying at deep discounts amid Western
sanctions on Russian oil and more recently, embargoes and price caps.
In discussions with about 10 independent refiners last week,
the ministry enquired about the volumes and prices of their Russian oil
imports, the sources said.
Officials also asked refiners if they had encountered any
obstacles in these transactions, they added.
"The government wants to understand how much
independent refiners could possibly buy and their actual appetite for such
imports," said one source with direct knowledge of the discussions.
The sources declined to be named as the discussions were not
public. The ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
"Officials wanted to have a handle on the basics on the
ground, so when China communicates with Russia the government would know what
to talk about," said one China-based source, a senior executive that deals
with Russian oil.
The conversations come as parliament prepares for its annual
congress next month and a possible state visit to Russia by Chinese President Xi
Jinping.
Also, China's top diplomat Wang Yi will visit Russia during
his current trip in Europe, the foreign ministry has said.
The ministry stopped short of offering any guidance on
Russian oil deals, three of the sources said.
STATE REFINERS
The ministry also met state-run refiners this month to
discuss China's refined fuel trade policy which Beijing relaxed late last year
to encourage exports, sources said.
A third source said state refiners were also asked about the
impact on Chinese exports from a European embargo on Russian fuel exports that
took effect Feb. 5.
China imported a daily 1.73 million barrels of Russian crude
in 2022, up 8.3% from a year earlier.
Top state refiners PetroChina and Sinopec are resuming
purchases of discounted seaborne Russian crude after a brief pause in late
2022, but are taking a cautious approach by buying cargoes on a delivered basis
only. -Reuters
0 comments:
Post a Comment