Global Seaborne Oil Flows Decline, With China Supply Down 1.4 Million bpd

Russia’s crude exports to key Western ports slumped to a 19-month low in July, contributing to an overall decline in seaborne oil flows worldwide, Bloomberg News reported.

Total flows to China plunged by more than 1.4 million barrels per day.

Global shipments dropped by about 586,000 barrels per day (bpd) last month, according to tanker-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.

Total flows to China plunged by more than 1.4 million barrels per day, the largest observed drop this year, although the figures may change as more vessels indicate their final destinations.

An increase in shipments from top exporters Saudi Arabia and the U.S. helped offset lower volumes from Russia, Brazil, Venezuela, and Qatar.

Russian exports—mainly of the flagship Urals grade—from the Baltic ports of Primorsk and Ust-Luga, and from Novorossiysk on the Black Sea, dropped to nearly 1.8 million barrels per day last month, compared with 2.2 million observed in June.

Russia has been improving compliance with its OPEC+ output target and is seeing a recovery in domestic refining, which could reduce the amount of oil it ships abroad.

A separate analysis this week showed the nation’s total seaborne crude exports at their lowest level in almost a year, while confirming that shipments from Baltic ports are at their lowest since December 2022.