Saudi Arabia’s crude oil supply to China is set to dip slightly in July, trade sources said on Tuesday, but still strong for a third straight month as the OPEC kingpin regains its market share supplying the world’s top crude importer.

State oil firm Saudi Aramco 2222 will ship about 47 million barrels to China in July, a tally of allocations to Chinese refiners showed, 1 million barrels less than June’s allotted volume.

State refiners Sinopec 600028, PetroChina 601857 and Aramco’s joint venture Fujian refinery will be receiving more crude in July, while the allocation for independent refiners Rongsheng Petrochemical 002493, Hengli Petrochemical 600346 and Shenghong Petrochemical will dip, the sources said.

Saudi Aramco did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The robust Saudi supply comes after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and their allies, known as OPEC+, agreed to hike output in July by 411,000 barrels per day for a third consecutive month.

Since April, the OPEC+ eight have now made or announced increases totalling 1.37 million bpd, or 62% of the 2.2 million bpd they aim to add back to the market.
Source: Reuters