Supertankers
hauling crude oil to China surged to the highest in almost a year.
Some 124
of the vessels are signaling China — the world’s biggest oil importer — as
their next destination over the forthcoming three months, according to a
regular count compiled by Bloomberg.
That’s the highest level since late April 2023.
China’s oil processing rose to the
highest in five months in March on robust demand following the Lunar New Year
holiday and as
refiners rebuilt fuel stockpiles before seasonal maintenance, official data
released earlier this week showed. The Asian nation is also expected to issue
an oil product export quota sometime in April, consultancy OilChem said in a
note.
Flows to
the US also expanded, with 37 tankers indicating the nation as their next
destination, the highest since Feb. 2.
A total
of 578 of the vessels signaled future destinations in the data for the next 90
days, compared with 569 a week earlier, MAP data compiled by Bloomberg show..