Asia
• The Chinese independent refineries, known as “teapot” refiners, who are responsible for the surge in the country’s oil imports, processed crude oil at 62.67 percent of capacity in the week through June 2, according to data by an industry researcher released on June 2. Teapots processed crude at 61.87 percent capacity the previous week, according to data from Shandong-based industry researcher Sci99. The operating rate at the independent refineries was at a high of 68.13 percent on Dec. 9, Sci99 data showed.
• China’s crude stockpiles at major ports in Shandong province in East China fell by 1.64 percent to 13.62 million barrels in the week ending June 2, according to Sci99. Out of the total 13.62 million, 4.98 million barrels were stored at Qingdao port, showing a fall of 1.02 percent from a week earlier.
• China in April surpassed Canada as the largest buyer of US crude for the second time since Congress lifted restrictions on oil exports two years ago, according to US Census Bureau data released Friday. Chinese purchases of US crude oil stood at 9.68 million barrels last month, while Canada imported 8.87 million barrels.
North America
• US oil drillers added more oil rigs for a 20th straight week, marking the biggest streak in at least three decades, according to weekly data from Baker Hughes released on June 2. Oil rigs went up by 11 last week, bringing the total number to 733, the data showed. Oil production surged in the US this year as the rig number has more than doubled from a low of 316 in May 2016.
• The US exported a record 1.3 million barrels of crude per day in the week ending May 26, the highest since 1993, according to weekly data from the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The US government data released on June 1 also showed that domestic oil production increased to 9.34 million barrels per day (bpd) during the same week from 9.32 million the week earlier. US refineries also upped their production, processing a record 17.51 million bpd in the week, topping a previous record of 17.29 million bpd set by the industry in April, according to the EIA. US drivers used 9.82 million barrels of gasoline a day, in the week ended just before the Memorial Day weekend, up from 9.7 million barrels in the week earlier. About 1.3 million bpd of distillates and more than 600,000 bpd of gasoline were also exported from the US. The EIA also reported US oil supplies dropped by 6.4 million barrels last week, a positive for the market and a much bigger decline than expected.

Source: Arab News