Saudi crude exports to China set for record low in June amid high prices, sources say

[RIYADH] Saudi Arabia’s crude oil exports to China are set to fall further in June – after buyers cut nominations because of costly prices linked to the US-Iran conflict, trade sources said.

State oil giant Saudi Aramco will ship about 10 million barrels of oil to its customers in China in June, or roughly 333,333 barrels a day, the sources added.

The number would mark a record low for data by Kpler and Reuters. It would also be lower than the average 1.4 million barrels a day that the kingdom shipped to China in 2025.

Major Chinese refiners including Sinopec, Sinochem and Rongsheng Petrochemical have reduced their lifting for June, said the sources, who were not authorised to speak to the media.

Aramco and the companies did not immediately respond to queries.

On May 5, Aramco set the official selling price of June Arab Light crude oil to Asia at a premium of US$15.50 a barrel, down from a record premium of US$19.50 in April.

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The decrease in price fell short of the reduction that some Chinese buyers had sought and kept Saudi crude expensive, the sources said.

In April, Chinese state-owned oil majors further lowered operation rates from the previous month as oil flow from the Strait of Hormuz, a key gateway, remained largely shut.

Crude exports from Saudi have plunged since the war broke out at the end of February, and it has been rerouting its oil exports to the Red Sea port of Yanbu via the East-West pipeline. REUTERS