China Replaces Venezuela Oil With Canada Imports

Chinese refiners are buying more and more very cheap heavy Canadian crude oil to make up for the dwindling supply of Venezuela’s heavy grades as China’s road construction sector—a key consumer of the heavy oil’s bitumen yield—is booming.

China purchased 1.58 million barrels of heavy Canadian crude oil for loading in September, up by nearly 50% compared to the 1.05 million barrels it imported from Canada in April, Bloomberg quoted data by cargo-tracking and intelligence company Kpler, Oil Price reported.

Analysts expect the Chinese purchases of heavy Canadian oil to continue to be high in October amid the typically peak construction season.

The high Chinese demand for bitumen-yielding heavy crude coincides with reduced supply of Venezuela’s Merey crude grade due to the crumbling production in the Latin American country. 

But more importantly, China is sourcing heavy crude from Canada at a bargain price—although international benchmark oil prices have rallied in recent weeks, Canada’s oil is heavily discounted due to severe bottlenecks because of a lack of pipeline capacity.