CHINA: Year of the Rabbit.....and lots of Oil !!!

China's Crude Oil Imports by Country

The following top 15 countries provided 90% of China’s imported crude petroleum supplies in 2010. Among those top suppliers, 6 nations are Mideast nations. They generated 46.3% of total Chinese crude oil imports.

In contrast, the value of crude oil that the United States imported from its top 3 Mideast suppliers (Saudi, Iraq and Kuwait) amounted to only 18.2% of its total $194.4 billion in U.S. imported crude petroleum.

1. Saudi Arabia … 5.7 million barrels, up 15.1% from 2009 (20.5% of total)
2. Angola … 4.4 million barrels, up 7.6% (15.8% of total)
3. Iran … 3.2 million barrels, up 8.6% (11.4% of total)
4. Russia … 2.1 million barrels, up 31.5% (7.5% of total)
5. Sudan … 1.7 million barrels, up 16.1% (6% of total)
6. Oman … 1.6 million barrels, down 19.5% (5.8% of total)
7. Iraq … 977,190 barrels, up 285.1% (3.5% of total)
8. Kuwait … 965,279 barrels, up 20% (3.5% of total)
9. Libya … 865,557 barrels, up 98.9% (3.1% of total)
10. Kazakhstan … 819,389 barrels, up 5.9% (2.9% of total)
11. Venezuela … 718,523 barrels, down 18.5% (2.6% of total)
12. Republic of Congo … 557,931 barrels, down 6.5% (2% of total)
13. Brazil … 553,574 barrels, up 34.3% (1.99% of total)
14. United Arab Emirates … 451,163 barrels, down 27. 8% (1.6% of total)
15. Indonesia … 441,256 barrels, up 132.3% (1.59% of total).

Ten of the top 15 countries boosted their crude oil shipments to China last year. This includes an 8.6% increase from China’s third-largest crude oil supplier, Iran.

China’s Fastest-Growing Imported Crude Petroleum Suppliers

The following top 10 countries accelerated their crude oil sales to the People’s Republic during 2010.

African nations represent 4 of the fastest-growing Chinese suppliers. Nigeria and Chad almost tripled their sales, while Libya almost doubled its crude oil shipments to the Middle Kingdom.

1. Brunei … 71,796 barrels, up 565.7% from 2009
2. Nigeria … 190,072 barrels, up 297.7%
3. Iraq … 977,190 barrels, up 285.1%
4. Chad … 19,095 barrels, up 274.2%
5. Canada … 60,038 barrels, up 255.4%
6. Malaysia … 304,145 barrels, up 149.7%
7. Indonesia … 441,256 barrels, up 132.3%
8. Libya … 865,557 barrels, up 98.9%
9. Algeria … 218,936 barrels, up 78.8%
10. Australia … 213,504 barrels, up 74.5%.

Canada’s crude oil exports to China posted a robust triple-digit gain. Based on Industry Canada’s trade data online, Chinese imports of Canadian crude oil were worth US$169.9 million last year.

Fastest-Declining Providers of Imported Chinese Crude Oil

Led by the small West African country Gabon, the following 10 countries experienced declines in their crude oil sales to China in 2010.

1. Gabon … 36,933 barrels, down 68.8% from 2010
2. Yemen … 349,502 barrels, down 38%
3. Qatar … 83,877 barrels, down 30%
4. United Arab Emirates … 451,163 barrels, down 27.8%
5. Mauritania … 55,586 barrels, down 24.3%
6. Thailand … 82,821 barrels, down 20.7%
7. Oman … 1.6 million barrels, down 19.5%
8. Venezuela … 718,523 barrels, down 18.5%
9. Equal Guinea … 303,036 barrels, down 18%
10. Argentina … 98,183 barrels, down 6.7%.

Among the largest crude oil suppliers to China, Oman and Venezuela posted the sharpest percentage decreases.

China’s Own Crude Oil Supplies

The People’s Republic processed 77.1 million barrels of crude oil during 2010, based on China Knowledge Newswire’s press release on January 13, 2011.

Given that the Chinese imported 27.8 million barrels and assuming they didn’t dip into existing reserves of imported petroleum, this suggests that China generated about 50 million or two-thirds of the total crude oil processed last year.

While crude petroleum imports to China grew 13.9%, China thus demonstrates its own strong supply of crude oil.

Source: http://www.suite101.com/content/chinas-top-suppliers-of-imported-crude-oil-by-country-in-2010-a355760

NUTSHELL:

Any discussions about Oil demand and supply that ignore or overlook China must be a big joke. A nation that consumes 10million barrels of oil per day is a significant economy in the scheme of things and necessarily plays a big part in impacting the market price of oil (Brent, WTI). To put this in perspective we understand that the production capacity of Saudi Arabia is somewhere between 9.5 to 11.1 million barrels of oil per day. A crisis in Saudi Arabia has cataclysmic consequences for the world oil and gas market. This applies to China's case as well. Let us update our intelligence about this great player in the world Oil & Gas industry.