Reuters reported (May 19) that Russian cargoes factoring in transportation and insurance costs
carried discounts of $8 a barrel or more to Brent, according to Bloomberg. China's Shandong
Port International Trade Group, which handles approximately a quarter of the country’s crude
oil imports, has secured a rare Russian shipment for arrival this month, Reuters reported. More
Chinese buying is set to follow. About 650,000 barrels of daily Russian crude oil that
previously shipped to developed economies like the EU could be replaced with similar grades
and volumes from the Middle East that now mostly go to China and India, energy consultancy
Wood Mackenzie estimates. It said Russian daily crude oil loadings earmarked for China
increased 10% from a month earlier to 781,000 barrels in April, the highest rate of the year,
while those to India more than doubled to a record 674,000 barrels, according to S&P
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