A group of Chinese companies, importing a fifth of the total volume of oil that OPEC countries produce, are preparing a large-scale strategy for the purchase of raw materials.
This was reported by Bloomberg, citing sources familiar with the negotiations in Beijing.
According to reports, senior executives at China Petroleum & Chemical, PetroChina, Cnooc and Sinochem Group are currently discussing the details of a plan that has already been approved by the Chinese government.
As planned, the group of companies will collectively issue applications for Russian and African brands of oil in the spot market. Currently, companies participating in the strategy import a total of over 5 million barrels of oil per day.
“This is almost a fifth of OPEC’s total production, which would make it [the group] the world’s largest buyer of crude oil”, – Bloomberg emphasizes.
For the first time, the initiative began to be discussed back in 2009, but special interest in it arose in the face of a collapse in prices and a reduction in oil production. China has recovered from the epidemic in recent months and has shown a rapid restart of the economy. Such successes have already prompted the country’s state and independent oil refineries to purchase Russian and Brazilian oil on the spot market.
It is expected that next month, Chinese refineries will launch a joint tender for the supply of raw materials from Russia in test mode. Subsequently, according to sources, the group will expand at the expense of other companies, which will increase the volume of purchased products.