China’s 2018 crude oil import to rise by 80 per cent. Can it close its US trade gap or assuage Trump?

The world’s second-largest oil refiner, already Asia’s biggest customer of US crude exports, could raise the import bill by buying 10 million tonnes of US crude oil in 2018.

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An oil pump operating in the Permian Basin near Midland, Texas. Photo: Reuters

Published: 8:01am, 27 Feb 2018Updated: 11:38am, 27 Feb 2018

China Petrochemical Corp, the world’s second largest oil refiner, expects to see its crude oil import from the US jump by more than 80 per cent this year, which could help address Washington’s complaints of a widening trade deficit in favour of China.

Import of US crude by the state-owned parent company of listed China Petroleum & Chemical, popularly known as Sinopec, could top 10 million tonnes this year, it said in a statement on Monday.

Through its trading arm Unipec, the oil giant last year bought 5.57 million tonnes of US crude, accounting for 10 per cent of that country’s total crude exports and making it Asia-Pacific’s largest customer, it said.

“China Petrochemical broke ground by loading its maiden batch of US crude in March 2016 … so far more than 10 of the company’s refineries are handling US crude,” it said.

“This has had a positive impact on China’s crude import sources diversification and [replacement of supply by more] economic alternatives.”