Saudi Arabia's crude oil sales to China are expected to remain at record lows in July as elevated prices in the wake of the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran continue to weigh on demand from the world's largest crude importer, sources familiar with the matter said.
The United States has become the world's largest oil exporter, upending a decades-old order long dominated by Saudi Arabia and Russia, a shift that tightens American companies' grip on energy markets as Washington's war with Iran reshapes global energy trade.
Clues are emerging in the mystery of the missing three million barrels—the oil that China would normally be importing but isn't now.
Oil rose in early Asian trade amid escalating supply-disruption fears caused by rising U.S.-Iran tensions.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve hits a three-year low of 349.2 million barrels, nearing levels not seen since the Reagan administration in 1983.
OPEC oil output in May hit its lowest in more than two decades, a Reuters survey found, as a U.S. naval blockade cut Iran's exports and Iran's effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz slashed exports by other Gulf producers.
Brent crude and WTI prices were showing relatively muted reactions to the resumption of direct conflict between the U.S. and Iran.
Oil prices rose on Wednesday after the U.S. launched military strikes against Iran. The U.S. military said it had completed strikes against Iranian military targets near the Strait of Hormuz.
Oil prices climbed about 1% on Wednesday, moving away from a seven-week low touched in the previous session, after the U.S. military launched new strikes against Iran and as market data showed another large draw in U.S. crude stocks.
Energy markets' worst nightmare has been playing out for more than 100 days, but one would hardly know it by looking at crude-oil futures.
Kuwait's oil inventories have declined sharply as a result of two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) which exported crude through the Strait of Hormuz with their AIS transponders switched off, according to a note from data provider Kpler on Tuesday.
Commerce Department data showed exports rose 2.6 percent in April to $327.1 billion.