Saudi's drop down China's shopping list for oil

Latest customs data from China revealed that Russia and Iraq have been seeing increased demand from China for oil.

In July oil imports from Iraq rose 18.2% while imports from Saudi Arabia fell 4.2%. Imports from Russia fell for the first time this year but remain +27.3% YTD.

Iraq's YTD stands at 10.8%, and the Saudi's are -0.4%. Angola tops the list as China's largest supplier with 4719mt shipped in July. The Saudi's are second at 4025mt.

Oil imports overall were 1.2% vs 3.8% prior y/y but apparent demand fell 0.2% to 10.13mbpd vs -0.7% in June.