(MENAFN) On Monday, according to news agency, Iran is being driven to further discount its already-cheap oil in order to compete with Russia in the Chinese market. Apparently, Tehran, which is under penalties, has limited choices for its petroleum supplies.
While all was going on, Russian shipments to China reached a record high in May, surpassing Saudi Arabia as the leading provider to the largest consumer of crude oil in the world. According to industry expert FGE, some Iranian barrels have also been replaced by Russian Urals crude.
According to Vandana Hari, the founder of Vanda Insights in Singapore, “the only competition between Iranian and Russian barrels may end up being in China, which would work entirely to Beijing’s advantage.” Adding that “this is also likely to make the Gulf producers uneasy, seeing their prized markets taken over by heavily discounted crude.”
Three months' worth of imports from Iran are listed in China's official figures, two of which are from this past January and May. Data from the analytics company Kpler, however, shows a consistent flow of oil of over 700,000 barrels per day in May and June.
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