How Brazil Became Asia’s Emergency Oil Supplier
$7 Billion in Oil Bets Under Investigation Natalia Katona is a freelance commodity analyst, based in the United Arab Emirates.
Asia is trying to save itself any way it can.
With Gulf barrels harder to get, buyers are pulling crude from wherever it is still available – even from as far away as Brazil.
The barrels are alike to those stranded by the Strait of Hormuz blockage, Asia’s appetite for them need is soaring.
The only problem is that they have to cross half the world first.
The timing of the US-Iran war could hardly be better for Brazil.
Its crude exports reached a record 2.3 million b/d in March and stayed at the same level in April, just as China was losing access to a large part of its usual crude needs from the Gulf.
Before the crisis, Middle Eastern crude exports to China were averaging 5-5.2 million b/d, almost half of total seaborne imports.
By April, those flows had fallen to about 2.4 million b/d.
Saudi Arabia alone saw its exports to China drop by around 600,000 b/d between February and March, to roughly 1 million b/d, losing its position as China’s second-largest seaborne crude supplier.
Its share of China’s total crude imports rose from around 10% in January to roughly 18% in April, even as China’s overall import demand weakened.
The 1.43 million b/d of Brazilian crude thatChinese refinersbought last month is the highest monthly reading on record, surpassing the previous record posted in February.
| Product | Price | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Brent Crude | $102.14/bbl | ▲ +0.34% |
| WTI Crude | $96.90/bbl | ▲ +0.21% |
| EN590 Diesel | $846/MT | ▲ +0.18% |
| Jet Fuel A-1 | $1090/MT | ▲ +0.55% |
| Mazut M100 | $450/MT | ▼ -0.15% |
| Bitumen 60/70 | $470/MT | ▲ +0.08% |
| Sulphur Gran 99.5% | $470/MT | ▼ -0.44% |
| Urea 46% Gran | $650/MT | ▲ +1.12% |
| NPK 16-16-16 | $460/MT | ▼ -0.28% |
| Nat Gas TTF | $15.42/MMBtu | ▲ +0.92% |
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